By the end of the course, students should have developed the ability to select and use the relevant economic aggregates necessary in order to evaluate the short and long run aggregate economic performance of one country relative to other countries or of any aggregate sector or market. They will develop the ability to use aggregate statistics to conduct simple descriptive and inferential analysis in order to extract quantitative information useful to understand the economic performance of a country both in the short run (business cycle) and in the long run (economic growth). They should be able to evaluate the possible causes of a given macroeconomic performance, and to evaluate the likely effects of fiscal policy and monetary policy conducted by central banks both in the short and the long run.