ECON102: Principles of Macroeconomics

1.2: Markets in Aggregate Form: An Introduction to Macroeconomics

• Charles Feng's "AP Macroeconomics Study Guide"

  Read this study guide, which provides a brief outline for the study of macroeconomics and will help prepare you for economics exams. This study guide covers most of the topics presented in this course.
  

• Boundless: “Macroeconomics" Page

  Read this introduction to Macroeconomics, which provides an overview of the field.
  

• MIT: Veronica Guerrieri's "Principles of Macroeconomics, L5-L7: The Demand Side of the Economy" File

  Read these lecture notes, which will provide an introduction to two important expenditure components of the GDP. This reading will also prepare you for further exposure to other macroeconomic variable, which you will study in the remainder of this course. Note that consumption is the largest expenditure component and investment is the most volatile expenditure component.
  

• MIT: Veronica Guerrieri's "Principles of Macroeconomics, L2: Introduction to Macroeconomic Data" File

  Read these lecture notes, which will provide an introduction to the scope and major topics covered by a course in macroeconomics. This reading represents an outline of the course and adds context. You will gain a solid foundation on which the upcoming units build. For instance, the course will refer numerous times to the four components of the expenditure approach - consumption, investment, government, and net exports - and will elaborate on their causes and consequences, what variables alter them, and what effects they have on aggregate demand, aggregate supply, GDP, and so forth.
  

• 1.2.1: Macroeconomic Goals

  • John Petroff's "Macroeconomics, Chapter 15: Economic Growth" Page

    Read this chapter, which explains various approaches to the goal of achieving economic growth. This reading also introduces the roles of government and other factors relevant to defining and sustaining increases in the production possibilities frontier, in real GDP, or both over time. This reading will help prepare you for this subunit's assessment.
    

  • John Petroff's "Macroeconomics, Chapter 15 Quiz: Economic Growth" URL

    Click on the "Review Quiz" link at the bottom of the page and follow the instructions to take the quiz.

• 1.2.2: The Circular Flow Model

  • Economics: Theory through Applications: "Chapter 18, Section 3: The Circular Flow of Income" URL

    Read this section for a detailed explanation of the circular flow of income model.
    

  • Khan Academy: "Circular Flow of Income and Expenditures" URL

    Watch this lecture about the circular flow of income and expenditures and the fiscal policy cycle.