Macroeconomics

From first principles to policy

The course starts with basic economics such as opportunity cost, supply and demand, then builds toward the tools policymakers use. The sequence runs from measuring the economy with GDP and unemployment through the AD-AS model to fiscal and monetary policy.

Themes that recur

• The business cycle, and why real versus nominal GDP matters.
• The financial sector, including money, banking and interest rates.
• Open-economy questions about exchange rates and capital flows.
• Debates over inflation, deficits and debt in the long run.

Who it suits

Students preparing for an economics course, and readers who want to understand news about rates and inflation, will find the structure useful. The closing unit on income inequality and the 2008 financial crisis ties the theory to recent events.