Macroeconomics is an interesting field. As a science, unlike that of general economics, it didn’t exist until the Great Depression - the only popularly acknowledged recession. As a term, its origins are clearly defined as Ragnar Frisch’s 1933 publication “Propagation Problems and Impulse Problems in Dynamic Economics.”

Terminology only goes so far - the popularly accepted origin of macroeconomics is that of John Maynard Keynes. You’d be hard pressed to find a definition of macroeconomics that didn’t include references to his elegant magnum opus “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money” published in 1936. The General Theory shaped macroeconomics today, as well as creating the school of economists known as “Keynesians.” Keynes wrote the piece in response to neoclassical economists inability to properly address the Great Depression itself. Important concepts such as a consumption function (a mathematical theory that measures consumer spending in any given economy), the multiplier effect (the theory that spending induces an even larger effect in national income due to respending), and the liquidity preference (the claim that rational agents prefer liquidity, and as such interest is a payment for removing liquidity, rather than for saving) are all accredited to Keynes’ work.

That said, work in the field of macroeconomics did not really start with Keynes. It was formalized, radically changed, and pushed forward by Keynes’ publications, but in fact, monetarists such as Milton Friedman and other classical economists worked overwhelmingly in the fields of macroeconomics.

So what then, really is macroeconomics? Macroeconomics is the study of things that effect the “bigger picture,” the performance and structure (particularly the “facilitating structure,” as structuralists see it) of the national or international economy. Factors that effect more than individual transactions, such as inflation, unemployment and trade are major topics of macroeconomics, particularly with focus on growth of national income (”well-being” particularly), the structural indicators, history and modulation of business cycles.

Macroeconomics is a hugely politicalized field. No intentions of politicization are held, and economists in general pride themselves in being the “brains” behind what is often manipulated in to politically sensitive and socially accepted solutions proposed by the political institution. That said, microeconomics is, in many ways the brain that feeds macroeconomics, which in turn feeds the decision making process - generally, if the government is involved in terms of monetary or fiscal policy, the field of research is macroeconomic.

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