Macroeconomics seeks to understand the way in which national economies function, and the way they interact with each other at the international level. Key questions are: the determination of a country's standard of living and rate of growth; the causes of recessions, unemployment, and inflation; the determinants of exchange rates and the benefits (or costs) of currency unions; and the determinants of interest rates. This course is an essential building block for higher level study in economics and finance, and is indispensable for understanding stock markets and financial investment.