Economic Performance
Our fourth unit deals with topics in Macroeconomics, which is a fancy way of saying "really big economics." Essentially, macroeconomics applies the principles of economics on a larger scale, over the course of an entire economy.
One of the most important people when it comes to the study of macroeconomics is that dude to the right, John Maynard Keynes. In addition to being a guy with amazing facial hair, Keynes also developed the Keynesian school of economics (not an actual building; it's more like a way of thinking) and was an instrumental proponent of the policies that dragged some countries, including the United States, through the worst depths of the Great Depression. |
In measuring economic performance, we tend to look at three different indicators: unemployment, CPI, and GDP. Unemployment tells us what percentage of the population would like to have a job but does not, and we discussed that in Unit III. CPI, or Consumer Price Index, uses a "basket of goods" to tell us what the level of inflation is. And Gross Domestic Product, the aforementioned GDP, is perhaps the most important measure of them all, because we use that to tell us how big (or not big) the economy is, and whether or not it's growing or shrinking. The goal is always growth, but that doesn't always work out (just ask Zimbabwe).