5 Macro objectives

Economists usually distinguish five objectives of macroeconomic policy, which in its turn can also be used to appraise the performance of the economy. The macroeconomic objectives are: economic growth, full employment, price stability, income equality and balance of payment equilibrium.  

• Economic growth is determined to establish a country's total production of goods and services. (GDP) 
• Full employment - The unemployment rate is calculated to establish the level of unemployment in a country.
• Price stability - Economists are interested in what is happening to the prices of goods and services. They want to know what is happening to inflation.  How do we calculate the inflation rate?
• Income equality - Meaning, how is income distributed amongst individuals or households.  Income equality is measured by the Gini coefficient and the Lorenz curve.
• Balance of payment - This concerns a country's economic links with other countries.  A country keeps record of its transactions, the amount of exports, imports, investment, savings and so on.