Difference Between Microeconomics & Macroeconomics (2024)

“Economics is the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship
between given ends and scarce means which have alternative uses.”

Top 7 Difference Between Microeconomics And Macroeconomics

Economic is a study about how individuals, businesses and governments make choices on allocating resources to satisfy their needs. These groups determine how the resources are organised and coordinated to achieve maximum output. They are mostly concerned with the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services.

Economics is divided into two important sections, which are: Macroeconomics & Microeconomics

Macroeconomics deals with the behaviour of the aggregate economy and Microeconomics focuses on individual consumers and businesses.

What is Microeconomics?

Microeconomics is the study of decisions made by people and businesses regarding the allocation of resources and prices of goods and services. The government decides the regulation for taxes. Microeconomics focuses on the supply that determines the price level of the economy.

It uses the bottom-up strategy to analyse the economy. In other words, microeconomics tries to understand human’s choices and allocation of resources. It does not decide what are the changes taking place in the market, instead, it explains why there are changes happening in the market.

The key role of microeconomics is to examine how a company could maximise its production and capacity, so that it could lower the prices and compete in its industry. A lot of microeconomics information can be obtained from the financial statements.

The key factors of microeconomics are as follows:

  • Demand, supply, and equilibrium
  • Production theory
  • Costs of production
  • Labour economics

Examples: Individual demand, and price of a product.

What is Macroeconomics?

Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that depicts a substantial picture. It scrutinises itself with the economy at a massive scale, and several issues of an economy are considered. The issues confronted by an economy and the headway that it makes are measured and apprehended as a part and parcel of macroeconomics.

Macroeconomics studies the association between various countries regarding how the policies of one nation have an upshot on the other. It circ*mscribes within its scope, analysing the success and failure of the government strategies.

In macroeconomics, we normally survey the association of the nation’s total manufacture and the degree of employment with certain features like cost prices, wage rates, rates of interest, profits, etc., by concentrating on a single imaginary good and what happens to it.

The important concepts covered under macroeconomics are as follows:

  1. Capitalist nation
  2. Investment expenditure
  3. Revenue

Examples: Aggregate demand, and national income.

Top 7 Differences Between Microeconomics And Macroeconomics

Let us look at some of the points of difference between Microeconomics and Macroeconomics

Microeconomics

Macroeconomics

Meaning

Microeconomics is the branch of Economics that is related to the study of individual, household and firm’s behaviour in decision making and allocation of the resources. It comprises markets of goods and services and deals with economic issues.Macroeconomics is the branch of Economics that deals with the study of the behaviour and performance of the economy in total. The most important factors studied in macroeconomics involve gross domestic product (GDP), unemployment, inflation and growth rate etc.

Area of study

Microeconomics studies the particular market segment of the economyMacroeconomics studies the whole economy, that covers several market segments

Deals with

Microeconomics deals with various issues like demand, supply, factor pricing, product pricing, economic welfare, production, consumption, and more.

Macroeconomics deals with various issues like national income, distribution, employment, general price level, money, and more.

Business Application

It is applied to internal issues.It is applied to environmental and external issues.

Scope

It covers several issues like demand, supply, factor pricing, product pricing, economic welfare, production, consumption, and more.It covers several issues like distribution, national income, employment, money, general price level, and more.

Significance

It is useful in regulating the prices of a product alongside the prices of factors of production (labour, land, entrepreneur, capital, and more) within the economy.

It perpetuates firmness in the broad price level, and solves the major issues of the economy like deflation, inflation, rising prices (reflation), unemployment, and poverty as a whole.

Limitations

It is based on impractical presuppositions, i.e., in microeconomics, it is presumed that there is full employment in the community, which is not at all feasible.

It has been scrutinised that the misconception of composition’ incorporates, which sometimes fails to prove accurate because it is feasible that what is true for aggregate (comprehensive) may not be true for individuals as well.

After learning the above concepts, we can come to the conclusion that these two concepts are not antithetical but complementary to each other and they are bound to go hand in hand.

This article was all about the topic of Difference between Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, which is an important topic for Commerce students. For more such interesting articles, stay tuned to BYJU’S.

Important topics in economics:
  • Consumer Protection Act
  • What is Demand?
  • Circular Flow of Income
  • Consumer Equilibrium
  • Central Problems of an Economy

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1

What is the difference between macroeconomics and microeconomics?

Microeconomics is the study of economics at an individual, group, or company level. Whereas, macroeconomics is the study of a national economy as a whole. Microeconomics focuses on issues that affect individuals and companies.Macroeconomics focuses on issues that affect nations and the world economy.

Q2

What is the example of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics?

Unemployment, interest rates, inflation, GDP, all fall into Macroeconomics. Consumer equilibrium, individual income and savings are examples of microeconomics.

Q3

How do Microeconomics and Macroeconomics are interrelated?

Microeconomics and macroeconomics are interrelated as both the strategies focus on improving the economy of their certain fields and branches.

Q4

What are the two fields of Economics?

The field of economics is divided into microeconomics, i.e., the study of individual markets, and macroeconomics, i.e., the study of the economy as a whole.

Difference Between Microeconomics & Macroeconomics (2024)

FAQs

Difference Between Microeconomics & Macroeconomics? ›

Microeconomics and macroeconomics are related but separate approaches to studying the economy. Microeconomics is concerned with the actions of individuals and businesses, while macroeconomics is focused on the actions that governments and countries take to influence broader economies.

What is the difference between microeconomics and macroeconomics? ›

Microeconomics is the field of economics that looks at the economic behaviors of individuals, households, and companies. Macroeconomics takes a wider view and looks at the economies on a much larger scale—regional, national, continental, or even global.

Should I take microeconomics or macroeconomics first? ›

You may start your economics career with either Principles of Microeconomics or Principles of Macroeconomics. There is perhaps a slight advantage in taking Principles of Microeconomics first, since you will acquire a firm grounding in supply and demand analysis.

What is an example of a microeconomics? ›

What are some microeconomics examples? Market failure in healthcare, price discrimination in airline tickets, market oligopoly, individual income, and saving decisions are some examples of microeconomics.

Which is more important between microeconomics and macroeconomics? ›

Microeconomics is important as it focuses on the smaller or individual aspects of the economy like workers, households and businesses. Macroeconomics, on the other hand, is important as it studies the economy as a whole. It looks after the major aspects of the economy such as GDP, unemployment rates, and inflation.

Which is more difficult microeconomics or macroeconomics? ›

However, macroeconomics is considered harder than microeconomics because the latter deals with individual economic units, while the former deals with aggregate economic analysis. Individual economic units include individual consumers or households. The aggregate economy refers to the whole of the economy.

What is microeconomics in simple words? ›

Microeconomics is the branch of economics that considers the behaviour of decision takers within the economy, such as individuals, households and firms. The word 'firm' is used generically to refer to all types of business.

Is there a lot of math in microeconomics? ›

Students who study microeconomics will need linear algebra, calculus, and geometry. Microeconomics uses mathematics to highlight phenomena or draw graphs to represent human actions. Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work.

What kind of math is used in macroeconomics? ›

Calculus can be a powerful tool for an economist when assessing economic performance and making projections. Using calculus to generate curves based on economic information allows you to identify trends and make more informed decisions.

Is microeconomics a hard class? ›

As mentioned previously, AP Microeconomics course material was designed to mimic an introductory college-level course, so it will certainly be more difficult than a standard high school class. Students unfamiliar with economic topics — or how to work with data — may find it challenging.

What is a real life example of macroeconomics? ›

What are macroeconomics examples? Some Macroeconomics examples in the real world include the Chinese Economy, Nordic Model, the United Kingdom economy, the Cuban Economy, and Singapore's economy.

What are the 3 types of microeconomics? ›

Three categories of micro-economics have been established: simple micro-statics, comparative micro-statics, and micro-dynamics. The relationship between microeconomic variables that are in equilibrium at a certain period is studied using simple micro-statics.

What are the 4 types microeconomics? ›

Economic market structures can be grouped into four categories: perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly. The categories differ because of the following characteristics: The number of producers is many in perfect and monopolistic competition, few in oligopoly, and one in monopoly.

Are stocks part of macroeconomics? ›

In finance, the stock market is the single most important market with respect to corporate investment decisions. In contrast, macroeconomic modelling and policy discussion assign a relatively minor role to the stock market in investment decisions.

Which class is easier microeconomics or macroeconomics? ›

Many students prefer to take microeconomics first because it feels more applicable to their daily lives, so the concepts should be easier to grasp.

What should I study first macroeconomics or microeconomics? ›

It is advisable to study microeconomics first as there are many ideas in macroeconomics that are dependent on microeconomics.

What is the difference between microeconomics and macroeconomics Quizlet? ›

microeconomics is concerned with individual markets and the behavior of people and firms, while macroeconomics is concerned with aggregate markets and the entire economy.

What is macroeconomics in simple words? ›

Macroeconomics is the branch of economics that deals with the structure, performance, behavior, and decision-making of the whole, or aggregate, economy. The two main areas of macroeconomic research are long-term economic growth and shorter-term business cycles.

What does macroeconomics focus on? ›

Macroeconomics focuses on the performance of economies – changes in economic output, inflation, interest and foreign exchange rates, and the balance of payments.

What is covered in microeconomics? ›

Put simply, microeconomics deals with the financial decisions that are made by individual consumers and relatively small groups, such as families or companies.

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