Macroeconomy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The overall economic system of a country or large region, examined as a whole through measures such as output, employment, and inflation
2. The total economic activity of a nation considered as one interconnected system rather than as individual markets or firms
3. The large-scale economy of a state or region, studied through aggregate indicators like growth, prices, and unemployment

Etymology: The term "macroeconomy" is a modern compound built from two older pieces: "macro-", from Ancient Greek "makros" meaning "long" or "large," and "economy," which came into English from Old French and Latin, ultimately from Greek "oikonomia," "management of a household." Joined together, the pieces describe the economy seen as a whole rather than its individual households and firms. The prefix "macro-" was used in English in the sense of "large-scale" long before economics adopted it, and the "micro-" counterpart sits beside it as the opposite. Economists needed a way to separate the study of single markets and consumers from the study of national income, employment and prices taken together, and the pairing of these prefixed forms gave them one.

Synonyms: economy

Antonyms: microeconomy