Introduction to Macroeconomics

When the price of a product you want to buy goes up, it affects you. But why does the price go up? Is the demand greater than the supply? Did the cost go up because of the raw materials that make it, or, was it a war in an unknown country that affected the price? In order to answer these questions, we need to turn to macroeconomics.

What do Macroeconomists do?

Macroeconomists try to forecast economic conditions to help consumers, firms and governments make better decisions. Consumers want to know how easy it will be to find work, how much it will cost to buy goods and services in the market, or how much it may cost to borrow money. Businesses use macroeconomic analysis to determine whether expanding production will be welcomed by the market. Will consumers have enough money to buy the products, or will the products sit on shelves and collect dust? Governments turn to the macroeconomics when budgeting spending, creating taxes, deciding on interest rates and making policy decisions. Macroeconomic analysis broadly focuses on three things: national output (measured by (GDP)), unemployment and inflation .

Introduction to Macroeconomics

Microeconomics examines the behavior of individual decision-making unitsbusiness firms and households. Macroeconomics deals with the economy as a whole; it examines the behavior of economic aggregates such as aggregate income, consumption, investment, and the overall level of prices.

Aggregate behavior refers to the behavior of all households and firms together.

The Roots of Macroeconomics

The Great Depression was a period of severe economic contraction and high unemployment that began in 1929 and continued throughout the 1930s.

The Roots of Macroeconomics

Classical economists applied microeconomic models, or market clearing models, to economy-wide problems. However, simple classical models failed to explain the prolonged existence of high unemployment during the Great Depression. This provided the impetus for the development of macroeconomics.

The Roots of Macroeconomics

In 1936, John Maynard Keynes published The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. Keynes believed governments could intervene in the economy and affect the level of output and employment. During periods of low private demand, the government can stimulate aggregate demand to lift the economy out of recession.

Recent Macroeconomic History

Fine-tuning was the phrase used by Walter Heller to refer to the governments role in regulating inflation and unemployment. The use of Keynesian policy to fine-tune the economy in the 1960s, led to disillusionment in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Recent Macroeconomic History

Stagflation occurs when the overall price level rises rapidly (inflation) during periods of recession or high and persistent unemployment (stagnation).

Macroeconomic Concerns

Three of the major concerns of macroeconomics are:

Inflation Output growth Unemployment

Inflation and Deflation

Inflation is an increase in the overall price level. Hyperinflation is a period of very rapid increases in the overall price level. Hyperinflations are rare, but have been used to study the costs and consequences of even moderate inflation. Deflation is a decrease in the overall price level. Prolonged periods of deflation can be just as damaging for the economy as sustained inflation.

Output Growth: Short Run and Long Run

The business cycle is the cycle of shortterm ups and downs in the economy. The main measure of how an economy is doing is aggregate output:

Aggregate output is the total quantity of goods and services produced in an economy in a given period.

Output Growth: Short Run and Long Run

A recession is a period during which aggregate output declines. Two consecutive quarters of decrease in output signal a recession. A prolonged and deep recession becomes a depression. Policy makers attempt not only to smooth fluctuations in output during a business cycle but also to increase the growth rate of output in the long-run.

Unemployment

The unemployment rate is the percentage of the labor force that is unemployed. The unemployment rate is a key indicator of the economys health. The existence of unemployment seems to imply that the aggregate labor market is not in equilibrium. Why do labor markets not clear when other markets do?

Government in the Macroeconomy

There are three kinds of policy that the government has used to influence the macroeconomy:
1. 2. 3.

Fiscal policy Monetary policy Growth or supply-side policies

Government in the Macroeconomy

Fiscal policy refers to government policies concerning taxes and spending. Monetary policy consists of tools used by the Central Bank (In Indias cane, the Reserve Bank) to control the quantity of money in the economy. Growth policies are government policies that focus on stimulating aggregate supply instead of aggregate demand.

The Components of the Macroeconomy

The circular flow diagram shows the income received and payments made by each sector of the economy.

The Components of the Macroeconomy

Everyones expenditure is someone elses receipt. Every transaction must have two sides.

The Components of the Macroeconomy

Transfer payments are payments made by the government to people who do not supply goods, services, or labor in exchange for these payments.

The Three Market Arenas

Households, firms, the government, and the rest of the world all interact in three different market arenas:
1. 2. 3.

Goods-and-services market Labor market Money (financial) market

The Three Market Arenas

Households and the government purchase goods and services (demand) from firms in the goods-and services market, and firms supply to the goods and services market. In the labor market, firms and government purchase (demand) labor from households (supply).

The total supply of labor in the economy depends on the sum of decisions made by households.

The Three Market Arenas

In the money marketsometimes called the financial markethouseholds purchase stocks and bonds from firms.

Households supply funds to this market in the expectation of earning income, and also demand (borrow) funds from this market. Firms, government, and the rest of the world also engage in borrowing and lending, coordinated by financial institutions.

Financial Instruments

Treasury bonds, notes, and bills are promissory notes issued by the federal government when it borrows money. Corporate bonds are promissory notes issued by corporations when they borrow money.

Financial Instruments

Shares of stock are financial instruments that give to the holder a share in the firms ownership and therefore the right to share in the firms profits.

Dividends are the portion of a corporations profits that the firm pays out each period to its shareholders.

The Methodology of Macroeconomics

Connections to microeconomics:

Macroeconomic behavior is the sum of all the microeconomic decisions made by individual households and firms. We cannot understand the former without some knowledge of the factors that influence the latter.

Aggregate Supply and Aggregate Demand

Aggregate demand is the total demand for goods and services in an economy.

Aggregate supply is the total supply of goods and services in an economy. Aggregate supply and demand curves are more complex than simple market supply and demand curves.

Expansion and Contraction: The Business Cycle

An expansion, or boom, is the period in the business cycle from a trough up to a peak, during which output and employment rise.

A contraction, recession, or slump is the period in the business cycle from a peak down to a trough, during which output and employment fall.