Long-run growth
Why are some countries
so much richer?
Start with the differences in living standards. Then ask what capital, ideas, and institutions can explain.
Data · Maddison Project · 1950–2022
Explore Chapter 3 ↗A FIELD GUIDE TO THE WHOLE ECONOMY
Data Science
& Macroeconomics.
Find the facts.
Explain the economy.
Why do living standards rise? What causes recessions and inflation? Explore the data, put models to work, and ask better questions—with Python and AI.
A Python Companion to Intermediate Macroeconomics.
A learning project by Carlos Mendez
A companion to Macroeconomics
by Charles I. Jones · 6th edition.
SIX BIG QUESTIONS01 / 06
Changes every 10 seconds
21 chapters / 9 appendices / Learn by doing
From data to understandingTHREE PILLARS. ONE CONNECTED APPROACH.
From evidence
to explanation.
Find a pattern. Build an explanation.
Use AI to go further—and check every step.
- 01 / DATA SCIENCE
From data to facts
Download, plot, and explore real economic data. Compare countries and periods to discover which patterns hold—and which questions to ask next.
Explore Data Apps - 02 / MACROECONOMIC MODELS
From facts to models
Operate the models that explain the facts. Move a slider, change a parameter, and compare the prediction with what the data show.
Explore Figure Apps - 03 / AI-POWERED LEARNING
AI-powered learning
Work with an AI assistant in Colab, see the big picture in mind maps and slides, and learn by changing the code. Use AI, but check its answers.
Start with Python and AI
THE FULL CURRICULUM
Understand the economy.
One question at a time.
Follow the chapters in order, or start with the question on your mind. Read, code, explore, or listen—each chapter gives you a way in.
Foundations
01Introduction to MacroeconomicsStart here
What can we learn by looking at the whole economy?
Start with income, jobs, and prices. Discover how economists move from facts to models, then use those models to ask new questions.
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AI podcast · 22 min
Chapter 1 · Introduction to Macroeconomics
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02Measuring the Macroeconomy
How do we measure an entire economy?
Follow production, spending, and income through the national accounts. Learn what GDP measures, how prices change, and what the headline numbers leave out.
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AI podcast · 22 min
Chapter 2 · Measuring the Macroeconomy
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Long-run growth
03An Overview of Long-Run Economic Growth
How did the world become so much richer?
Trace living standards across countries and centuries. Explore the power of compounding and the striking differences in when sustained growth began.
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AI podcast · 22 min
Chapter 3 · An Overview of Long-Run Economic Growth
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04A Model of Production
Why do some economies produce so much more?
Build a production model from capital, labor, and productivity. Compare its predictions with the data to see how much of the income gap it can explain.
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AI podcast · 23 min
Chapter 4 · A Model of Production
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05The Solow Growth Model
Can saving more make a country richer?
Operate the Solow model and watch capital accumulate. Explore steady states, transition dynamics, and the limits of growth driven by investment alone.
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AI podcast · 22 min
Chapter 5 · The Solow Growth Model
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06Growth and Ideas
What keeps economic growth going?
Ideas can be used by many people at once. Explore how this changes the economics of production and why research can sustain rising living standards.
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AI podcast · 23 min
Chapter 6 · Growth and Ideas
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Labor & inflation
07The Labor Market, Wages, and Unemployment
Why are some people unemployed even when jobs exist?
Connect wages and employment to labor supply and demand. Then follow workers into and out of jobs to understand persistent unemployment.
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AI podcast · 22 min
Chapter 7 · The Labor Market, Wages, and Unemployment
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08Inflation
Why does money lose its purchasing power?
Measure inflation in the data and connect prices to money and output. Explore the quantity theory, real interest rates, and the costs of inflation.
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AI podcast · 23 min
Chapter 8 · Inflation
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Business cycles & policy
09An Introduction to the Short Run
Why does the economy move in ups and downs?
Separate the long-run path of output from short-run fluctuations. Use data on output, jobs, and inflation to describe what happens in a recession.
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AI podcast · 23 min
Chapter 9 · An Introduction to the Short Run
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10The Great Recession and the Covid-19 Pandemic: A First Look
What made the financial crisis and pandemic so disruptive?
Compare two very different downturns. Trace housing, financial markets, output, and employment to see how each shock spread through the economy.
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AI podcast · 22 min
Chapter 10 · The Great Recession and the Covid-19 Pandemic: A First Look
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11The IS Curve
How do interest rates change spending and output?
Build the IS curve from the national income identity. Change demand and borrowing costs to see why short-run output moves.
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AI podcast · 22 min
Chapter 11 · The IS Curve
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12Monetary Policy and the Phillips Curve
How can a central bank bring inflation down?
Connect monetary policy to the IS and Phillips curves. Follow the path of output and inflation when the central bank changes the interest rate.
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AI podcast · 22 min
Chapter 12 · Monetary Policy and the Phillips Curve
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13Stabilization Policy and the AS/AD Framework
Can policy cushion an economic shock?
Bring the short-run model together in the AS/AD diagram. Explore how policy rules, expectations, and different shocks shape the adjustment.
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AI podcast · 22 min
Chapter 13 · Stabilization Policy and the AS/AD Framework
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14Financial Crises and the Short-Run Model
What happens when the financial system stops working?
Add risk premiums and financial frictions to the short-run model. Examine how a credit crisis, deflation, and policy constraints can deepen a recession.
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AI podcast · 22 min
Chapter 14 · Financial Crises and the Short-Run Model
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15DSGE Models: The Frontier of Business Cycle Research
How do modern models explain business cycles?
Meet the agents, shocks, and frictions inside DSGE models. Explore how productivity, labor markets, and sticky prices shape the economy’s response.
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AI podcast · 23 min
Chapter 15 · DSGE Models: The Frontier of Business Cycle Research
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Decisions & the global economy
16Consumption
How do households decide what to spend today?
Spread income and wealth across a lifetime. Use a two-period model to explore consumption smoothing, patience, and the role of interest rates.
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AI podcast · 22 min
Chapter 16 · Consumption
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17Investment
What makes a new investment worthwhile?
Compare the return on capital with its cost. Connect firms’ investment choices to interest rates, taxes, stock prices, and housing.
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AI podcast · 22 min
Chapter 17 · Investment
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18The Government and the Macroeconomy
How do today’s deficits shape tomorrow’s choices?
Follow government spending, taxes, and borrowing through the budget constraint. Explore debt dynamics and the choices involved in financing public spending.
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AI podcast · 22 min
Chapter 18 · The Government and the Macroeconomy
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19International Trade
Why do countries trade—and who gains?
Work through comparative advantage and the gains from exchange. Connect trade balances to saving, investment, and borrowing from the rest of the world.
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AI podcast · 22 min
Chapter 19 · International Trade
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20Exchange Rates and International Finance
What moves a currency’s value?
Compare purchasing power across countries and returns across currencies. Explore exchange rates, international finance, and policy in an open economy.
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AI podcast · 23 min
Chapter 20 · Exchange Rates and International Finance
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21Parting Thoughts
What have we learned—and what remains unresolved?
Bring the book’s main lessons together. Revisit living standards, growth, inflation, and stabilization, then consider the questions macroeconomics still needs to answer.
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AI podcast · 22 min
Chapter 21 · Parting Thoughts
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Nine appendicesPython, data, mathematical tools, and research extensions
AGoogle Colab and AI-powered Python
How can you run economics with Python and AI?
Open a notebook in Google Colab, run its code, and make it your own. Learn how to ask an AI assistant for help and check the answers it gives.
Explore the chapter map BAccessing Macroeconomic Data with Python
Where can you find the data behind the questions?
Download macroeconomic series directly with Python. Learn how to choose sources, compare definitions, and prepare data for analysis.
Explore the chapter map CMath Review for Macroeconomics
Which mathematical tools make the models clearer?
Review percentages, logarithms, growth rates, and the algebra behind the book. Connect each tool to the economic questions it helps answer.
Explore the chapter map DGrowth and Development Accounting
How much growth comes from inputs—and how much from productivity?
Use growth and development accounting to separate capital, labor, and productivity. Compare changes over time and differences in living standards across countries.
Explore the chapter map EGrowth and Convergence Across Countries
Are poorer countries catching up?
Derive convergence from the Solow model, then test it across countries. Compare growth regressions with changes in the dispersion of incomes.
Explore the chapter map FAugmented Solow Growth Model
Does human capital explain the income gap?
Add schooling to the Solow model. Rebuild the Mankiw–Romer–Weil analysis and compare its findings with more recent international data.
Explore the chapter map GGrowth and Institutions
Do better institutions cause greater prosperity?
Revisit the Acemoglu–Johnson–Robinson study. Explore why correlation is not enough and how historical instruments are used to study institutions and income.
Explore the chapter map HDSGE Modeling with Python
How can you build and estimate a DSGE model?
Use Python and Snowdrop to write, solve, simulate, and estimate dynamic models. Let the data help determine parameters and inspect the response to shocks.
Explore the chapter map IThe DSGE Model of Smets and Wouters
How does an estimated economy respond to shocks?
Work with the Smets–Wouters model in Python. Recompute impulse responses and explore the roles of sticky wages, sticky prices, and monetary policy.
Explore the chapter map No matching chapters or appendices. Try another search or topic.
Mind maps and lecture slides accompany every chapter and appendix. AI-generated podcasts accompany all 21 chapters.