Macroeconomics is the study of the national economy. Economists in this field look at how entire economies make decisions, compared to microeconomics, which looks at how individual decisions affect the larger economic picture. According to macro economics experts, a nation’s GDP, unemployment rates, national income, consumption of goods, savings, inflation, international trade and international finance all affect a nation’s prosperity. When looking at the current recession, we see many truths in what these economists are saying; and yet, many critics also point out that macroeconomic theory falls short of the complete picture.
One of the modern macroeconomics tools used to manage the economy and avoid economic depression is fiscal policy action. To deal with a recession, governments may change how they collect and spend money. Commonly, the government will cut taxes for individuals and businesses in the hopes that consumers will buy more and with an increased demand, employers will be able to hire more workers. The government may also increase spending to create new federal jobs, thus lowering the unemployment rate further. Unemployment insurance is an immediate fiscal policy action that helps people who are suffering to receive an infusion of cash. You can easily see all of these economics 101 actions undertaken by the U.S. to patch up our current economy.
Another concept of macroeconomics that applies to recessions is called monetary policy. Unlike fiscal policy, which is regulated by the President and Congress, monetary policy is regulated by the Federal Reserve System, the nation’s central banking institution. During a recession, the Federal Reserve has the power to reduce the reserve ratio or lower the federal funds rate, which lets banks keep more of their assets as accessible money, rather than reserves, thereby offering more attractive loans to customers and keeping economic growth high. Another action the Federal Reserve may take is to lower the discount rate on federal loans, which can free up money for banks that have borrowed from the Reserve, thus offering consumers better loans. Lastly, the Federal Reserve may save its own money to buy government bonds and put more money into the economy. While some of these actions may sound good, they must be careful not to meddle in free markets too much or the economy may wind up in worse shape than before.
So what have macroeconomics followers learned from this mess? Maybe it’s time for new economics theories to take hold, rather than simply drawing on the economics history of the past. “Economists need to reach out from their specialized silos: macro-economists must understand finance, and finance professors need to think harder about the context within which markets work. And everybody needs to work harder on understanding asset bubbles and what happens when they burst,” suggests a July 16th 2009 article in The Economist, “For in the end economists are social scientists, trying to understand the real world. And the financial crisis has changed that world.”
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