Introduction to

Macroeconomics
Daniel Adjei
[email protected]
It takes a bigger heart for small boy to
run with the big boys. Who are you?
What Macroeconomics is About

 Macroeconomics is the study of the

structure and performance of national
economies and of the policies that
governments use to try to affect
economic performance.
Issues Addressed by
Macroeconomists

 What determines a nation’s long-run

economic growth?
 What causes a nation’s economic
activity to fluctuate?
 What causes unemployment?
Issues Addressed by
Macroeconomists (continued)

 What causes prices to rise?

 How does being a part of a global
economic system affect nations’
economies?
 Can government policies be used to
improve economic performance?
Long-Run Economic Growth

 Rich nations have experienced

extended periods of rapid economic
growth.
 Poor nations either have never
experienced them or economic
growth was offset by economic
decline.
Increased Output

 Total output is increasing because of

increasing population, i.e. the number
of available workers.
 Increasing average labour productivity:
the amount of output produced per unit
of labour input.
Rates of Growth of Output

 Rates of growth of output (or output per

worker) are determined by:
 rates of saving and investment;
 rates of technological change;

 rates of change in other factors.

Business Cycles

 Business cycles are short-run

contractions and expansions of
economic activity.
 The most volatile period in the history
of Canadian output was between 1914
and 1945.
Recessions

 Recession is the downward phase of a

business cycle when national output is
falling or growing slowly.
 Hard times for many people
 A major political concern
Unemployment

 Recessions are usually accompanied

by high unemployment: the number of
people who are available for work and
are actively seeking it but cannot find
jobs.

Unemployed
Unemployme nt Rate   100%
Labour Force
The Unemployment Rate

 The unemployment rate can stay high

even when the economy is doing well.
 After eight years of economic growth, in
2000, the unemployment rate in Canada
was near 7%.
Inflation

 When prices of most goods and

services are rising over time it is
inflation. When they are falling it is
deflation.
 The inflation rate is the percentage
increase in the average level of prices.
Effects of Inflation

 When the inflation rate reaches an

extremely high level the economy tends to
function poorly. The purchasing power of
money erodes quickly, which forces
people to spend their money as soon as
they receive it.
The International Economy

 An economy which has extensive trading

and financial relationships with other
national economies is an open economy.
An economy with no relationships is a
closed economy.
The International Economy
(continued)
 International trade and borrowing
relationships can transmit business
cycles from country to country.
Exports and Imports

 Canadian exports are goods and

services produced in Canada and
consumed abroad.
 Canadian imports are goods and
services produced abroad and
consumed in Canada.
Trade Imbalances

 Trade imbalances (trade surplus and

deficit) affect output and employment.
 Trade surplus: exports exceed imports.
 Trade deficit: imports exceed exports.
The Exchange Rate

 The trade balance is affected by the

exchange rate: the amount of Canadian
dollars that can be purchased with a unit
of foreign currency.
Macroeconomic Policy

 A nation’s economic performance

depends on:
 natural and human resources;
 capital stock;
 technology
 economic choices made by citizens;
 macroeconomic policies of the government.
Macroeconomic Policy
(continued)
 Macroeconomic policies:
 Fiscal policy: government spending and
taxation at different government levels.
 Monetary policy: the central bank’s control
of short-term interest rates and the money
supply.
Budget Deficits

 The economy is affected when there are

large budget deficits: the excess of
government spending over tax collection.
Budget Deficits (continued)

 The large budget deficits of the 1980s

and early 1990s are unusual.
 Borrowing from the public might divert
funds from more productive uses.
 Federal budget deficits might be linked to
the decline in productivity growth.
Aggregation

 Macroeconomists ignore distinctions

between individual product markets and
focus on national totals.
 The process of summing individual
economic variables to obtain
economywide totals is called
aggregation.
What Macroeconomists Do

 Macroeconomic forecasting
 Macroeconomic analysis
 Macroeconomic research
 Data development
Macroeconomic Forecasting

 Macroeconomic forecasting –
prediction of future economic trends -
has some success in the short run. In
the long run too many factors are
highly uncertain.
Macroeconomic Analysis

 Macroeconomic analysis - analyzing and

interpreting events as they happen –
helps both private sector and public
policymaking.
Macroeconomic Research

 Macroeconomic research - trying to

understand the structure of the economy
in general – forms the basis for
macroeconomic analysis and
forecasting.
Economic Theory

 Economic theory: a set of ideas about

the economy to be organized in a
logical framework.
 Economic model: a simplified
description of some aspects of the
economy.
Developing and Testing a
Theory
 State the research question.
 Make provisional assumptions.
 Work out the implications of the theory.
 Conduct an empirical analysis.
 Evaluate the results.
Data Development

 Macroeconomists use data to assess

the state of the economy, make
forecasts, analyze policy alternatives,
and test theories.
Data Development (continued)

 Providers of data must:

 Decide what types of data should be collected
based on who is expected to use the data and
how.
 Ensure the measures of economic activity
correspond to economic concepts.
 Guarantee the confidentiality of data.
Why Macroeconomists Disagree

 A positive analysis examines the

economic consequences of an
economic policy, but it does not
address its desirability.
 A normative analysis tries to determine
whether a certain economic policy
should be used.
Why Macroeconomists Disagree
(continued)
 Economists can disagree on normative
issues because of differences in values.
 Economists disagree on positive issues
because of different schools of thought.
The Classical Approach

 The invisible hand of Economics:

General welfare will be maximized (not
the distribution of wealth) if:
 there are free markets;
 individuals act in their own best interest.
The Classical Approach
(continued)
 To maintain markets’ equilibrium – the
quantities demanded and supplied are
equal:
 Markets must function without impediments.
 Wages and prices should be flexible.
The Classical Approach
(continued)
 Thus, according to the classical
approach, the government should have a
limited role in the economy.
The Keynesian Approach

 Keynes (1936) assumed that wages

and prices adjust slowly.
 Thus, markets could be out of
equilibrium for long periods of time and
unemployment can persist.
The Keynesian Approach
(continued)
 Therefore, according to the Keynesian
approach, governments can take actions
to alleviate unemployment.
The Keynesian Approach
(continued)
 The government can purchase goods
and services, thus increasing the
demand for output and reducing
unemployment.
 Newly generated incomes would be
spent and would raise employment even
further.
Evolution of the Classical-
Keynesian Debate

 After stagflation – high unemployment

and high inflation – of the 1970s, a
modernized classical approach
reappeared.
 Substantial communication and cross-
pollination is taking place between the
classical and the Keynesian
approaches.
Unified Approach to
Macroeconomics
 Individuals, firms and the government
interact in goods, asset and labour
markets.
 The macroeconomic analysis is based
on the analysis of individual behaviour.
The Unified Approach
(continued)

 Keynesian and classical economists

agree that in the long run prices and
wages adjust to equilibrium levels.
 The basic model will be used either
with classical or Keynesian
assumptions about flexibility of wages
and prices in the short run.
Do you have a reason to give up or
give in?
End of Chapter

Thank you for your time