Shift focus to the big picture: the national economy. Learn how economists measure economic health using Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and economic growth. We define a recession, unemployment, and the inflation rate. Understand the business cycle and how governments use fiscal policy (spending, taxes) and central banks use monetary policy (interest rates, money supply) to manage it. Concepts like budget deficit/surplus, national debt, productivity, labor force participation, economic indicators, and stagflation are also explained.