Macroeconomics For Dummies

Table of contents

1. 1. Cover
   2. Introduction
      1. About This Book
      2. Foolish Assumptions
      3. Icons Used in This Book
      4. Beyond the Book
      5. Where to Go from Here
   3. Part 1: Getting Started with Macroeconomics
      1. Chapter 1: Discovering Why Macroeconomics Is a Big Deal
         1. The Big Picture: Checking Out the Economy as a Whole
         2. Looking at the Key Macroeconomic Variables
         3. Modeling the Macroeconomy
         4. Plotting Economic Policy
         5. Hoping for the Best (and Preparing for the Worst)
      2. Chapter 2: Looking at Key Questions and Concepts
         1. Asking the Big Questions of Macroeconomics
         2. Clarifying Important Macroeconomic Concepts
         3. Thinking Like an Economist: Learning to Love Modeling
      3. Chapter 3: The Short Run and the Long Run
         1. Separating Trend and Cycle
         2. Unifying the Field (or Not)
         3. Policy-Making: The Long and Short of It
   4. Part 2: Measuring the Things That Matter
      1. Chapter 4: Adding Up Gross Domestic Product
         1. Grasping the Idea of GDP
         2. Dissecting GDP Further
         3. Adding It All Up: Calculating GDP
         4. Comparing Living Standards with GDP and Other Methods
      2. Chapter 5: Facing the Fact of Increasing Prices: Inflation
         1. Working Out Inflation: Looking into the Average Shopping Basket
         2. Examining the Cause of Inflation: The Quantity Equation
         3. Appraising Inflation: Good or Bad?
         4. Rising to Extremes: Hyperinflation
         5. Going Downwards: Deflation
      3. Chapter 6: Thinking About Interest Rates
         1. Trading Through Time
         2. Discounting the Future
         3. Impacting Interest Rates: Monetary and Fiscal Policy
      4. Chapter 7: Unemployment: Wasting Talent and Productivity
         1. Constructing Unemployment Measures
         2. Classifying Different Types of Unemployment
         3. Finding the “Natural” Rate of Unemployment
   5. Part 3: The Long-Run Macro Economy
      1. Chapter 8: GDP Growth in the Long Run
         1. Compounding Growth: The Rule of 70
         2. Marginalizing Firm Decisions
         3. Growing GDP Over Time
         4. Steadying the State
      2. Chapter 9: Long-Run Prices and Interest Rates
         1. Using the Quantity Equation with the Long-Run Growth Model
         2. Preferencing Time, Savings, and the Real Interest Rate
         3. Targeting Inflation
         4. Digressing Internationally
   6. Part 4: Modeling the Short-Run Macro Economy
      1. Chapter 10: Working Out a Country’s Economic Demand
         1. Looking into What Everyone Wants: Aggregate Demand
         2. Meeting the Components of Aggregate Demand
         3. Following the Aggregate Demand Curve
      2. Chapter 11: Determining How Much Stuff an Economy Produces
         1. Producing What People Demand: Aggregate Supply
         2. Getting to Grips with Short-Run Aggregate Supply
      3. Chapter 12: Using the AD–AS Model to Analyze Economic Shocks
         1. Discovering What the AD–AS Model Does and Doesn’t Explain
         2. Delving into Demand-Side Shocks
         3. Bumping into Supply-Side Shocks
   7. Part 5: Examining Macroeconomic Policy
      1. Chapter 13: Macroeconomic Policies for the Long Run
         1. Controlling Inflation
         2. Stabilizing the Public Debt
      2. Chapter 14: Monetary Policy and the Short-Run Economy
         1. Implementing Monetary Policy
         2. Spotting the Liquidity Trap and Quantitative Easing
      3. Chapter 15: Fiscal Policy: Balancing the Books — Perhaps
         1. Stabilizing the Economy with Fiscal Policy
         2. Countering the Doubts: Liquidity Traps and Liquidity Constraints
         3. Appraising the Obama Stimulus
      4. Chapter 16: Unemployment and Inflation: The Phillips Curve
         1. Inflating Steadily in the AS–AD Model
         2. Doubting the Phillips Curve … and making adjustments
         3. Confronting unpleasant supply shocks
         4. Learning Lessons: The Lucas Critique and Rational Expectations
         5. Going Long: Determinants of the Natural Rate
   8. Part 6: Understanding the Financial Crisis
      1. Chapter 17: Strengths and Weaknesses of the Financial System
         1. Making the World Go ’Round
         2. Recognizing Systemic Risk
      2. Chapter 18: Learning from the 2007–08 Financial Crisis
         1. Shadowing the Banks
         2. Facing the Panic
         3. Failing to Predict the Crisis
         4. Learning Lessons from the Crisis
   9. Part 7: The Part of Tens
      1. Chapter 19: Getting to Know Ten Great Macroeconomists
         1. Adam Smith (1723–1790)
         2. John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946)
         3. Milton Friedman (1912–2006)
         4. Paul Samuelson (1915–2009)
         5. James Tobin (1918–2002)
         6. Robert Solow (1924–)
         7. Robert Lucas (1937–)
         8. Edward Prescott (1940–)
         9. Robert Barro (1944–)
         10. Janet Yellen (1946–)
      2. Chapter 20: Ten Top Tips to Take Away
         1. Ultimately, Real Things Are What Count
         2. Growth Compounds
         3. Excessive Growth in the Money Supply Causes High Inflation in the Long Run
         4. There’s No Trade-Off between Inflation and Unemployment in the Long Run
         5. Government Has a Budget Constraint
         6. The Value of Commitment
         7. Cyclical Unemployment Is Costly
         8. Monetary and Fiscal Policy Can Be Stabilizing
         9. Financial Markets Are Important … and Fragile
         10. Efficient Markets Should Be Surprised
   10. About the Authors
   11. Connect with Dummies
   12. End User License Agreement