Unit 4: Aggregate Economic Activities and Fluctuations
In studying macroeconomics, the focal point is the whole economy versus markets for goods and services. This approach entails looking at the forces affecting growth, inflation, and unemployment at the aggregate level whether it is output, income, or the set of components within GDP. In essence, macroeconomics involves studying demand and supply for all goods and services in a nation's economy. Aggregate demand is the total amount of goods and services people want to buy; in other words, it measures what people wish to purchase rather than what is actually produced. The aggregate demand is the sum of consumption, investment, government expenses, and net exports. Aggregate supply is the total output an economy produces at a given price level. As you learned in microeconomics, firms achieve equilibrium when they produce the quantity of goods and services consumers want to buy - that is, when aggregate supply equals aggregate demand. This unit will examine shifts in aggregate supply and aggregate demand and their short-term and long-term effects for the whole economy.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 27 hours.