Scope and Importance of Macroeconomics - Macroeconomics | Macro Economics - B Com PDF Download

Scope and Importance of Macroeconomics:

As a method of economic analysis macroeconomics is of much theoretical and practical importance.

(1) To Understand the Working of the Economy:

The study of macroeconomic variables is indispensable for understanding the working of the economy. Our main economic problems are related to the behaviour of total income, output, employment and the general price level in the economy.

These variables are statistically measurable, thereby facilitating the possibilities of analysing the effects on the functioning of the economy. As Tinbergen observes, macroeconomic concepts help in “making the elimination process understandable and transparent”. For instance, one may not agree on the best method of measuring different prices, but the general price level is helpful in understanding the nature of the economy.

(2) In Economic Policies:

Macroeconomics is extremely useful from the point of view of economic policy. Modern governments, especially of the underdeveloped economies, are confronted with innumerable national problems. They are the problems of overpopulation, inflation, balance of payments, general underproduction, etc.

The main responsibility of these governments rests in the regulation and control of overpopulation, general prices, general volume of trade, general outputs, etc. Tinbergen says: “Working with macroeconomic concepts is a bare necessity in order to contribute to the solutions of the great problems of our times.” No government can solve these problems in terms of individual behaviour. Let us analyse the use of macroeconomic study in the solution of certain complex economic problems.

(i) In General Unemployment:

The Keynesian theory of employment is an exercise in macroeconomics. The general level of employment in an economy depends upon effective demand which in turn depends on aggregate demand and aggregate supply functions.

Unemployment is thus caused by deficiency of effective demand. In order to eliminate it, effective demand should be raised by increasing total investment, total output, total income and total consumption. Thus, macroeconomics has special significance in studying the causes, effects and remedies of general unemployment.

(ii) In National Income:

The study of macroeconomics is very important for evaluating the overall performance of the economy in terms of national income. With the advent of the Great Depression of the 1930s, it became necessary to analyse the causes of general overproduction and general unemployment.

This led to the construction of the data on national income. National income data help in forecasting the level of economic activity and to understand the distribution of income among different groups of people in the economy.

(iii) In Economic Growth:

The economics of growth is also a study in macroeconomics. It is on the basis of macroeconomics that the resources and capabilities of an economy are evaluated. Plans for the overall increase in national income, output, and employment are framed and implemented so as to raise the level of economic development of the economy as a whole.

(iv) In Monetary Problems:

It is in terms of macroeconomics that monetary problems can be analysed and understood properly. Frequent changes in the value of money, inflation or deflation, affect the economy adversely. They can be counteracted by adopting monetary, fiscal and direct control measures for the economy as a whole.

(v) In Business Cycles:

Further macroeconomics as an approach to economic problems started after the Great Depression. Thus its importance lies in analysing the causes of economic fluctuations and in providing remedies.

(3) For Understanding the Behaviour of Individual Units:

For understanding the behaviour of individual units, the study of macroeconomics is imperative. Demand for individual products depends upon aggregate demand in the economy. Unless the causes of deficiency in aggregate demand are analysed, it is not possible to understand fully the reasons for a fall in the demand of individual products.

The reasons for increase in costs of a particular firm or industry cannot be analysed without knowing the average cost conditions of the whole economy. Thus, the study of individual units is not possible without macroeconomics.

Conclusion:

We may conclude that macroeconomics enriches our knowledge of the functioning of an economy by studying the behaviour of national income, output, investment, saving and consumption. Moreover, it throws much light in solving the problems of unemployment, inflation, economic instability and economic growth.

Limitations of Macroeconomics:

There are, however, certain limitations of macroeconomic analysis. Mostly, these stem from attempts to yield macroeconomic generalisations from individual experiences.

(1) Fallacy of Composition:

In Macroeconomic analysis the “fallacy of composition” is involved, i.e., aggregate economic behaviour is the sum total of individual activities. But what is true of individuals is not necessarily true of the economy as a whole.

For instance, savings are a private virtue but a public vice. If total savings in the economy increase, they may initiate a depression unless they are invested. Again, if an individual depositor withdraws his money from the bank there is no ganger. But if all depositors do this simultaneously, there will be a run on the banks and the banking system will be adversely affected.

(2) To Regard the Aggregates as Homogeneous:

The main defect in macro analysis is that it regards the aggregates as homogeneous without caring about their internal composition and structure. The average wage in a country is the sum total of wages in all occupations, i.e., wages of clerks, typists, teachers, nurses, etc.

But the volume of aggregate employment depends on the relative structure of wages rather than on the average wage. If, for instance, wages of nurses increase but of typists fall, the average may remain unchanged. But if the employment of nurses falls a little and of typists rises much, aggregate employment would increase.

(3) Aggregate Variables may not be Important Necessarily:

The aggregate variables which form the economic system may not be of much significance. For instance, the national income of a country is the total of all individual incomes. A rise in national income does not mean that individual incomes have risen.

The increase in national income might be the result of the increase in the incomes of a few rich people in the country. Thus a rise in the national income of this type has little significance from the point of view of the community.

Prof. Boulding calls these three difficulties as “macroeconomic paradoxes” which are true when applied to a single individual but which are untrue when applied to the economic system as a whole.

 (4) Indiscriminate Use of Macroeconomics Misleading:

An indiscriminate and uncritical use of macroeconomics in analysing the problems of the real world can often be misleading. For instance, if the policy measures needed to achieve and maintain full employment in the economy are applied to structural unemployment in individual firms and industries, they become irrelevant. Similarly, measures aimed at controlling general prices cannot be applied with much advantage for controlling prices of individual products.

(5) Statistical and Conceptual Difficulties:

The measurement of macroeconomic concepts involves a number of statistical and conceptual difficulties. These problems relate to the aggregation of microeconomic variables. If individual units are almost similar, aggregation does not present much difficulty. But if microeconomic variables relate to dissimilar individual units, their aggregation into one macroeconomic variable may be wrong and dangerous.