Macroeconomics: An Active Learning Approach (The MIT Press)

A new way to teach macroeconomics based on problem-solving and hands-on learning.

Offering an important paradigm shift in the way macroeconomics is taught, this innovative textbook invites students to learn by doing. Organized as a series of word problems motivated by specific macroeconomic questions—Can an economy grow indefinitely by accumulating capital? Why is nominal GDP a poor gauge of changes in economic activity? What constrains the firm?—the text equips readers to think like macroeconomists rather than simply receive expository information. This novel approach develops intuition, analytical skills, and background knowledge simultaneously. Interrelated themes, techniques, and results emerge as students work through the problems, resulting in a dynamic but cohesive treatment of macroeconomics in which agents making choices subject to constraints are the central characters.

• Classroom-tested, learn-by-doing, problem-solving approach
• Comprehensively covers the material of a single-semester undergraduate macroeconomics course, including optimizing agents and general equilibrium, rational expectations, and modern monetary policy
• Versatile structure suits both large lecture formats and smaller classes
• Robust instructor resources support transition to new pedagogical method