Explore the factors that affect the overall performance of economies, focusing on how public policies help and hinder the achievement of intended outcomes, such as reducing unemployment or increasing trade.
Economists divide their discipline into two areas of study: microeconomics and macroeconomics. In this course, we introduce the principles of macroeconomics: the study of how a country's economy works as we try to discern among good, better, and best choices for improving and maintaining the nation's standard of living and level of economic and societal well-being. Historical and contemporary perspectives on the role of government policy surround questions of who gains and loses within a small set of key interdependent players. These beneficiaries include households, consumers, savers, firm owners, investors, government officials, and global trading partners.
Microeconomics studies how supply and demand determine prices in a given market. In macroeconomics, we examine changes in the price level across all markets. The main goals of the macroeconomy are to achieve economic growth, price stability, and full employment. Macroeconomic performance relies on measures of economic activity, such as variables and data at the national level, within a specific period. Macroeconomics analyzes aggregate measures, such as national income, national output, unemployment and inflation rates, and business cycle fluctuations. In this course, we prompt you to consider national and global issues and various competing perspectives, tools, and alternatives.
- Unit 1: Introduction to Economics
- Unit 2: Macroeconomics: Gross Domestic Product, Inflation, and Unemployment
- Unit 3: Aggregate Demand, Supply, and Equilibrium
- Unit 4: Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy
- Unit 5: Fiscal Policy
- Unit 6: International Trade and Finance
- Describe the determinants of total output and the ways to measure nominal and real gross domestic product (GDP);
- Differentiate full employment and unemployment, and the three forms of unemployment;
- Define inflation and explain ways of computing the general movement in prices;
- Explain the model of aggregate demand and aggregate supply and the way the equilibrium price level and real GDP are determined;
- Analyze the government's use of fiscal policy to stabilize the economy;
- Define money, its role in the economy, and the way money is created in the banking system;
- Evaluate how the U.S. Federal Reserve uses monetary policy to influence key variables to achieve economic growth, price stability, and full employment;
- Apply fiscal policy to resolve economic issues and stimulate economic growth;
- Analyze the relationship between inflation and unemployment and the attitudes of various schools of thought toward active management of the economy;
- Analyze capital flows and their impact on the foreign exchange market and the aggregate economy; and
- Explain the importance of comparative advantage, specialization, interdependence, and trade.