Principles of Macroeconomics

About this exam

The exam moves from basic economic concepts to national income accounting, the financial sector, stabilisation policy, growth and international finance. Graph reading is central, and several questions turn on shifting a curve correctly.

Most difficulty comes from policy reasoning rather than arithmetic. You need to predict what happens to output, prices and interest rates when a policy changes, and be able to trace the chain of effects.

Students often take this alongside Principles of Microeconomics, since the two together can cover a full year of introductory economics.

Topic breakdown

Topic weights published by College Board.

How to study for this exam

• Get comfortable with the aggregate demand and aggregate supply model before anything else.
• Learn how the money market connects to interest rates and then to investment and output.
• Practise fiscal and monetary policy questions in both directions: expansion and contraction.
• Draw every graph by hand at least once. Recognition is much faster when you have produced the diagram yourself.

How the practice test works

• Choose all units or a single unit to focus on.
• Set the number of questions and a time limit, or practise untimed.
• Filter by difficulty to warm up or push yourself.
• Retake as many times as you like — every attempt is free.
• Your recent sessions stay on this device so you can review them.

Common questions