Macroeconomics

How it is used

Used in courses, research and policy debates. The adjective macroeconomic appears constantly in news and reports: macroeconomic data, macroeconomic stability, the macroeconomic outlook. Economists also just say macro.

Example sentences

1. Macroeconomics asks why some countries suffer from high inflation while others do not.

2. The report says macroeconomic stability is the first condition for attracting long-term investment.

Common collocations

• macroeconomic stability
• macroeconomic data
• macroeconomic policy
• macroeconomic outlook

Related terms

• microeconomicsThe branch of economics that studies how individual households and firms make choices, and how prices are set in particular markets.
• GDPShort for gross domestic product: the total value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period, usually a quarter or a year.
• inflationA general and continuing rise in the prices of goods and services in an economy, which means each unit of money buys less over time.
• unemploymentThe situation of people who have no job but are available for work and actively looking for one; also the number or share of such people.
• fiscal policyThe government's decisions about taxes and public spending, used to influence demand, growth, jobs and the state of the public finances.

More terms: Core Concepts

• economy
• scarcity
• opportunity cost
• incentive
• trade-off
• diminishing returns
• ceteris paribus
• capital
• goods and services
• household
• private sector
• market economy