Includes Index.

1. Introduction: is macroeconomics useful?; 2. Trends and cycles, shocks and stability; 3. Determinants of aggregate spending and saving; 4. Production functions and growth accounting; 5. The macroeconomics of 'the' labor market; 6. Understanding US inflation dynamics; 7. What does monetary policy do?; 8. What does fiscal policy do?; 9. Conclusion: is (macro)economics useful?; Appendix: miscellaneous notes on economic measurement.

There is an uncomfortably large gulf between academic research and what policy economists use to understand the economy. A Practical Guide to Macroeconomics shows how economists at policy institutions approach important real-world questions and explains why existing academic work - theoretical and empirical - has little to offer them. It argues that this disconnect between theory and practice is problematic for policymaking and the economics profession and looks at what's needed to make academic research more relevant for policy. The book also covers topics related to economic measurement and provides a compact overview of US macroeconomic statistics that will help researchers use these data in a better-informed way.