Payment in kind, EPA, debt, deficit... in recent years we have added to our vocabulary some of the jargon that until recently was almost exclusively of interest to economists. Lately the "most" thing is the risk premium (recently included in the dictionary by the RAE, by the way), but who does not remember the ninjas, or the subprime? And so we go on, learning new things every time this long crisis rears its head.

In view of the European summit to be held at the end of this week, let's open our mouths with an easy one. The ECB is the European Central Bank, which is in charge of the monetary policy (think interest rates) of the euro countries with the goal to maintain a certain price stability. Not to be confused with the neighborhood banks (those of the payroll, mortgage and bills), although they do fall under the "banking union". It is still not very clear what banking union would mean at internship, but it would probably include common legislation and supervision, a shared deposit guarantee, and a stabilization fund with a permanent vocation.

Stabilization is more familiar, because of the European Financial Stability Fund. But again we must be careful, because although it sounds similar, it is not the same. The EFSF, rather than banks, has to do with the member states. It will sound familiar to you because it is a mechanism to maintain financial stability in the Union and to lend money to countries with serious economic problems, mainly debt. At home we call it the "Rescue Fund", and with that we usually all understand each other.

Eurobonds are also in vogue (you will remember, usually the word is accompanied by an emphatic "no" from Merkel). Although there is another meaning, these Eurobonds that the news is talking about would be, if they ever come into existence, a way of issuing joint public debt in the Eurozone. In other words, they would be something similar to the Spanish Treasury Bills, but changing Spain for Monetary Union. It would be great for those countries that pay a lot for our debt because it would be cheaper for us to do so, but it also has its drawbacks (which are neither few nor small).

Unfortunately, this is not the end of it. We will get used to it all: "fiscal pact", "single treasury", etc. By force they hang.