Understand the forces that shape the entire economy — GDP, growth, unemployment, inflation, fiscal and monetary policy, international trade, and financial crises. 7 modules with 35 lessons covering the essential macroeconomic frameworks.
Understand the big picture — what macroeconomics studies, how GDP is measured, the difference between real and nominal, price indices, and key economic indicators. Resources: Mankiw Macroeconomics, Blanchard Macroeconomics, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Explore what makes economies grow over the long run — the Solow model, human capital, technological progress, institutions, and growth accounting. Resources: Mankiw Macroeconomics, Acemoglu Introduction to Modern Economic Growth, Jones & Vollrath.
Analyze the two primary macroeconomic pathologies — unemployment and inflation — their measurement, causes, the Phillips Curve trade-off, and the challenge of stagflation. Resources: Mankiw Macroeconomics, Blanchard Macroeconomics, BLS Data.
Understand how government spending and taxation affect the economy — the multiplier effect, automatic stabilizers, national debt dynamics, and the austerity vs stimulus debate. Resources: Mankiw Macroeconomics, Blanchard Macroeconomics, CBO Budget Reports.
Explore how central banks manage the money supply and interest rates — the Federal Reserve's tools, open market operations, quantitative easing, and the Taylor Rule. Resources: Mankiw Macroeconomics, Mishkin Economics of Money Banking and Financial Markets.
Analyze the global economy — exchange rates, balance of payments, trade deficits, purchasing power parity, and the impossible trinity of open-economy macroeconomics. Resources: Krugman Obstfeld & Melitz International Economics, Mankiw Macroeconomics.
Understand business cycle phases, the competing Keynesian and Classical explanations, the IS-LM and AD-AS models, and lessons from the 2008 financial crisis. Resources: Mankiw Macroeconomics, Blanchard Macroeconomics, Bernanke et al.