Microeconomics |
Macroeconomics |
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It is study of individual economic units of an economy. |
1. |
It is study of the economy as a whole and its aggregates. |
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It deals with individual income, individual prices and individual outputs, etc. |
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It deals with aggregates like national income, general price level and national output, etc. |
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Its central problem is price determination and allocation of resources. |
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Its central problem is determination of level of income and employment. |
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Its main tools are demand and supply of particular commodity/factor. |
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Its main tools are aggregate demand and aggregate supply of the economy as a whole. |
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It helps to solve the central problem of ‘what, how and for whom to produce’ in the economy. |
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It helps to solve the central problem of ‘full employment of resources in the economy.’ |
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It discusses how equilibrium of a consumer, a producer or an industry is attained. |
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It is concerned with the determination of equilibrium level of income and employment supply, inflation, unemployment, etc. |
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Examples are: Individual income, individual savings, price determination of a commodity, individual firm's output, consumer’s equilibrium. |
7. |
Examples are: National income, national savings, general price level, aggregate demand, aggregate supply, inflation, unemployment, etc. |
Meaning of macroeconomics — "Macroeconomics is the study of overall averages and aggregates covering the whole economy and examines the interrelationship among various aggregates." Simply put 'it is study of the economy as a whole'. It is that part of economic theory which deals with the behaviour of national aggregates. It studies not an individual economic units like a household or a firm or an industry (i.e. small group of firms) but deals with the study of broad economy-wide aggregates like total output, size of national income, level of employment, aggregate consumption, aggregate saving, aggregate investment, general price level, balance of payment, rate of inflation, size of poverty etc. It helps to solve the central problem of 'full employment of resources' in an economy.
Be it noted that macroeconomic theory is also called 'Theory of Income and Employment' because it tries to explain how level of income and employment is determined in an economy and how unemployment can be removed. Study of problem of unemployment in India or general price level is a macroeconomic study because they relate to Indian economy as a whole.
Let it be known that an English economist J.M. Keynes whose book titled 'General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money', published in 1936 brought about a revolution in economic thought is called the Father of Modern Macroeconomics.