What is MacroWeb?

Macroeconomics for Business Decisions?

What in the world does Macroeconomics have to do with business decisions?  Students often wonder what the definitive value of a required or elective class will be.  Some classes purpose and real world value seem to be shrouded in a veil of secrecy.  Even the title of the class, while alluding to some grandiose purpose, can sometimes be deceiving.  For instance, take Macroeconomics for Business Decisions.  The title suggests that the class will deliver some method of making business decisions.  But is this really the case? 

For students wallowing in the mire of self-pity and "why me" I offer a personal experience that I have gleaned from the very class I listed above.  Macroeconomics for Business Decisions has helped me make a real world business decision.  So sit back, relax, and listen to my experience of learning, growth, and the ability to take Macroeconomic tools and apply them to real world decision-making.

It all began when the company I work for asked me to determine the viability of opening a new business.  Luckily, the business opportunity I was pursuing was regulated by the state and as such a census of the data was available over the Internet.  I compiled the data and graphed it, which gave me a mountainous type graph with peaks and troughs.  I had learned from our professor that in order to understand graphs better it is sometimes better to take the logs of the numbers (this allows our linear minds to see the information in a linear fashion).  I did so, and was able to see a trend in the occupancy levels of the business.

To be a viable business opportunity the company decided that occupancy levels had to be nearing a maximum occupancy rate, thus creating a need and room for our services.  By separating the information into counties I was able to see growth trends in various counties and choose the best one.  I also learned in my Macro class that I could forecast the numbers into the future by taking the logs of the numbers and finding the average growth rate and then projecting the numbers into the future.  This exercise produced a promising growth rate in a certain county, which looked even more promising when compared to the already high occupancy levels of that same county.

I also divided the occupancy rate of individuals in the year 2000 by the number of people age 65 and older in the county in the year 2000.  This allowed me to see that 1.76% of people age 65 and older were customers in the year 2000.  I found a website that projected age 65 and older growth rates in Utah to the year 2025.  By assuming that 1.76% of people in these projections would also be customers I was able to determine what the need for our business would be in the future.  This also proved very promising and helped us make an educated business decision.

And this, in a summarized version, is how Macroeconomics for Business Decisions has helped me make a real life business decision.  I admit that the overall application of material I learned in class was small in this example, but it definitely did have a potent and useful effect.  And while I acknowledge I do not have a full or even partial grasp on Macroeconomics or the business decisions it can help you with, I have peeled away a small layer of the mystical shroud to discover a valuable and even useful piece of real world information.