Introduction to Macroeconomics

PRINCIPLE OF ECONOMIC

6 EDITION

KARL CASE, RAY FAIR

PRENTICE HALL BUSINESS PUBLISHING

COPY RIGHT 2002

 

 

Macroeconomics

•         Macroeconomics deals with the economy as a whole.  It studies 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.

•         Classical economists applied microeconomic models, or “market clearing” models, to economy-wide problems.

•         The failure of simple classical models to explain the prolonged existence of high unemployment during the Great Depression provided the impetus for the development of macroeconomics.

Recent Macroeconomic History

•         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.

•         Fine-tuning was the phrase used by Walter Heller to refer to the government’s 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.

•         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

•         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.

Output Growth

•         The business cycle is the cycle of short-term 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.

•         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.

•         The size of the growth rate of output over a long period is also a concern of macroeconomists and policy makers.

Unemployment

•         The unemployment rate is the percentage of the labor force that is unemployed.

•         The unemployment rate is a key indicator of the economy’s 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.      Fiscal policy

2.      Monetary policy

3.      Growth or supply-side policies

•         Fiscal policy refers to government policies concerning taxes and expenditures.

•         Monetary policy consists of tools used by the Federal Reserve to control the money supply.

•         Growth policies are government policies that focus on stimulating aggregate supply instead of aggregate demand.

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.

•         In the money market—sometimes called the financial market—households 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.

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

•         Dividends are the portion of a corporation’s 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