Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that studies the structure, productivity, behavior and decision making of the entire or aggregate economy.
The two main areas of macroeconomic research are long-term economic growth and short-term business cycles.
Macroeconomics in its modern form is often defined as beginning with John Maynard Keynes and his theories on market behavior and public policy in the 1930s; since then, several schools of thought have emerged.
Unlike macroeconomics, microeconomics focuses more on the influences and choices made by individual economic actors (individuals, companies, industries, etc.).