There are three main macroeconomic goals in our society:
1. Full employment
2. Stable prices
3. Economic Growth
First, full employment means that the nation's unemployment rate is no higher than about 5-7%, what's often referred to as the "natural rate" of unemployment or the "full employment rate" of unemployment. Second, stable prices mean that the inflation rate should be relatively low and non-erratic, but a number as to exactly how low isn't typically mentioned. Finally, economic growth should at least exceed the average growth rate over the last century, which has been about 3% per year. Essentially, all three goals leave some room for variation, and that's a good thing. Remember the topic about "confidence" below (see 6/17/13 entry).
Do the goals above seem like reasonable goals for a nation? Should there be more goals, such as lower deficits and debt? Are any of the above goals "mutually exclusive", meaning you can't achieve two or more goals at the same time (example -- lower deficits along with economic growth)?
