A briefing on the New Zealand macroeconomy, 1960-1990

Abstract

In the opening lecture to the Stage One Economics class at Lincoln University, we tell our students that the first step in macroeconomics is to define and describe the key variables which are the object of our study. Only when we understand what is meant by real growth, unemployment, inflation, the Balance of Payments, the terms of trade, the exchange rate and so on, and only when we know how they have behaved over time, is it sensible to begin putting together macroeconomic models which seek to explain their behaviour, and then to use those models to provide policy advice.