宏观经济学 笔记 macroeconomics lecture notes (English) 期末考试

1、Introduction to Macroeconomics Lecture NotesRobert M. Kunst March 20061 MacroeconomicsMacroeconomics (Greek makro = big) describes and explains economic processes that concern aggregates. An aggregate is a multitude of economic subjects that share some common features. By contrast, microeconomicstreats economic processes that concern individuals.Example: The decision of a firm to purchase a new oce chair from com- pany X is not a macroeconomic problem. The reaction of Austrian house- holds to an

2、 increased rate of capital taxation is a macroeconomic problem.Why macroeconomics and not only microeconomics? The whole is more complex than the sum of independent parts. It is not possible to de- scribe an economy by forming models for all firms and persons and all their cross-eects. Macroeconomics investigates aggregate behavior by imposing simplifying assumptions (“assume there are many identical firms that pro- duce the same good”) but without abstracting from the essential features. These

3、assumptions are used in order to build macroeconomic models. Typi-cally, such models have three aspects: the story, the mathematical model,and a graphical representation.Macroeconomics is non-experimental: like, e.g., history, macro- economics cannot conduct controlled scientific experiments (people would complain about such experiments, and with a good reason) and focuses on pure observation. Because historical episodes allow diverse interpretations, many conclusions of macroeconomics are not c

4、oercive.Classical motivation of macroeconomics: politicians should be ad- vised how to control the economy, such that specified targets can be met optimally.policy targets: traditionally, the magical pentagon of good economic growth, stable prices, full employment, external equilibrium, just distribution89of income; according to the EMU criteria, focus on inflation (around 2%), public debt, and a balanced budget; according to Blanchard, focus on low unemployment (around 5%), good economic growth

5、, and inflation (03%). In all specifications, aim is meeting several conflicting targets simultaneously. Examples for further typical questions to macroeconomics: what causes business cycles (episodes of stronger and weaker economic growth)? can an increase in the monetary supply by the central bank cause real eects? what is responsible for long-run economic growth? should the exchange rate of a currency be kept at a fixed level? can one decrease unemployment, ifone accepts an increase in inflat

6、ion?A survey of world economics: three large economic blocks (Eu- rope, USA+Canada, Japan+Far East) with dierent problems, the remain- der mostly developing countries.1. USA: good growth, low inflation, tolerable unemployment rate, per- sistent external deficit, increasing income inequality.2. EU: moderate growth, low inflation, in some countries high unem- ployment, inconspicuous external balance (total EU active, in Austria recently turned active), for some countries large public debt, current

7、ly important unification process, convergence and heterogeneity of indi- vidual countries. Richest EU countries Luxembourg, Denmark, then mid-field with Austria, IRL, B, NL, UK, D, F, FIN, I, S; slightly be- low E, GR, SLO, P. Last come most new (2004 accession) countries (from Malta down to Latvia). Very rich non-EU countries Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland.3. Japan: recently weak growth, large external surplus, deflationary ten- dencies.2 System of National AccountsBasic idea (not the definit

8、ion): Summary of all economic activities within a countrys territory and within a given time range (e.g., a year or quarter) yields the gross domestic product (GDP). The value of all goods and ser- vices is determined at market prices (final prices, purchasers prices). Systemfor compilation of data and bookkeeping of all positions is called the Systemof National Accounts (SNA). In Europe, compilation of the SNA conforms to the ESA (European System of Accounts) standard.Economic activity is mainl

9、y measured by transactions. Phrases from text books: diversification of labor (not complete self-subsistence) causes transactions, exchange of money for goods or services, exchange of an assetor liability for a dierent asset or liability, etc. The transactions take place on markets. Money makes transactions easier than direct exchange of goods for goods, which may require double coincidence (hungry tailor meets freezing baker).Purpose of money: apart from payment and storage of value primarily unit of measurement (numeraire). In economic text books, usually dollar ($), monetary unit (MU), or euro.gross: many activities serve to repair or replace worn or damaged ma- chines and objects (depreciation), therefore it is not the total GDP thatcontributes to the accumulation of aggregate wealth. In the SNA, gross usually means inclusi

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