Macroeconomics For Dummies®, uk edition Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Foolish Assumptions

We make some assumptions about you and why you want to read this book:

You’re smart and interested in finding out how the economy works.


You’re considering taking a school, university or professional course that involves macroeconomics and you want an easy-to-read resource that explains modern macroeconomics clearly.


You understand that having a good knowledge of macroeconomics is essential in the modern world so no one can pull the wool over your eyes!


You’re not scared about working through simple mathematical equations every now and again so long as they’re clearly explained and allow you to gain a deeper understanding of the material.

You’re reading this book alongside our companion title Microeconomics For Dummies in order to master economics from a micro- (the study of

individuals and firms) and macro- (the economy as a whole) perspective.


Icons Used in This Book


For Dummies books use icons, partly because they’re pretty but also because they draw your attention to some important things. Here are the icons we use in this book.


Tips are small morsels of useful information to help you understand something.


This icon draws your attention to something quite important.


We use Warning icons to highlight confusing concepts. Whenever you see one of these, make sure you don’t make the common error related to that topic.


This icon makes clear a word or an idea that’s used in economics in a specific way, often not the way in which it’s commonly understood.


Theory is all well and good but sometimes ideas are made clearer using a realworld example.


Beyond the Book

You’ll have no difficulty applying your new knowledge of macroeconomics beyond this book. Just turn on the TV or read a newspaper and you inevitably find stories about the economy. You can consider whether the claims made or analysis provided make sense given what you discover about how the economy works. Often you find that they don’t. When that happens (and trust us, it will), you’re reaping the benefits of what you read in this book.

In addition to the material in this book plus the wealth of macroeconomic stories in the media, we also provide online content that specifically complements these sources:


Cheat Sheet: At www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/macroeconomicsuk we

summarise some key information about how the economy works, including:

The basics of fiscal and monetary policy.


The key summary statistics that macroeconomists examine in order to assess the health of an economy: real GDP, unemployment, and inflation.


How the economy behaves in the short run when prices are sticky and in the long run when prices are flexible.

The Cheat Sheet comes into its own when you find yourself without a copy of Macroeconomics For Dummies to hand (of course, this will only happen very rarely!) and you need quick and easy access to the key facts about the economy.

Extras articles: At www.dummies.com/extras/macroeconomicsuk you

can find some exclusive articles written especially for this book. The articles include

The lowdown on the Solow model – the simplest but most widely used model of economic growth.


The basics of the IS–LM mode, which tells you how the economy behaves in the very short run when prices are fixed.


A quantitative easing quandary: why doesn’t the Bank of England just write off the huge debts the government owes on the bonds bought during quantitative easing?