study of national or regional economies in terms of the total amount of goods and services produced, the total income earned, the level of employment of productive resources, and the general behaviour of prices (price). Until the 1930s most economic analysis concentrated on individual firms and industries. Growth in the field of macroeconomics paralleled the development of the concepts of national income (national income accounting) and production (gross national product) statistics. Further macroeconomic study was spurred by attempts to understand the underlying causes of the Great Depression. The policy goals that macroeconomists typically associate with the discipline include economic growth, price stability, and full employment. (Compare with microeconomics.)