Originally posted by Lord Ac
Been doing revision for my half yearlys ... came across a few little concepts that I dont fully get, wondering if anyone could give me a bit of an explantion/summary:
- the multiplier
- NAIRU
- Whats the diff. between "Macro" and Micro"
- Structural u/e
Ac 
:mad1:
What AGB said...
Also: the NAIRU may be called "the natural rate of unemployment". It is ultimately the lowest level of unemployment an economy can reach without leading to inflation (long run philips curve). It exists because of structural and frictional unemployment as well as market rigidities (i.e inefficient communication between job seekers and employers, payroll tax, inequitable access to education/training etc...). In the 60s it was about 3%, but it is currently estimated to be about 5.5-6%. You could probably mention the effects of globalisation on the level of structural unemployment here as well....
Microeconomics looks at interactions in the economy on the level of individuals. i.e how consumers/businesses etc choose to manage their resources. Macroeconomics looks rather at the economy in the wider social/political context....i.e the decisions of governments. (small scale vs large scale)
Structural unemployment - that which results when there is a "mismatch" between the supply of labour and market demand for skills. For instance, the shift towards services in the Australian economy has seen widespread structural unemployment in manufacturing/primary industries. The skills of steel mill workers and textile manufacturers may no longer be demanded in such high quantities by a business/hospitality/it orientated job market. A change in the fundamental *structure* and composition of the workforce leads to unemployment amongst those workers whose skills no longer meet the demands of the market.
