Microeconomics and Macroeconomics — Distinct, Yet Convergent

Possessing extensive experience as a clinical professor and business consultant, he offers clients in-depth insights on business opportunities. In addition, Joseph Petry holds a doctorate in economics and built up decades of teaching experience in the subject, focusing on topics ranging from the basics of micro- and macroeconomics to the highly detailed coursework required for the MBA.

The central division in the study of economics is that between microeconomics and macroeconomics. Expressed in its simplest form, the difference is one of scale. Microeconomics involves the study of the economic and trading behavior of individuals and companies acting within markets. It can be seen as primarily an examination of supply and demand as key forces in the fluctuation of price levels. Microeconomics plays a major role in financial services teams’ formulation of investment strategies.

Macroeconomics describes the ways in which nations and government entities operate in the economic sphere. The perspective of macroeconomics takes an overall view that encompasses the movements of numerous economic factors acting in concert to form an interactive whole. Macroeconomics is chiefly a tool of government officials, scholars, and analysts as they craft policy related to such issues as productivity, sustainability, and income distribution.

The two sides of this coin are, of course, connected. The granular data derived from the actions of individual buyers, sellers, and investors at the microeconomic level informs the insights of macroeconomics, which in turn provides an overarching conceptual framework for putting specific microeconomic exchanges into context.