Countries around the world have faced major macroeconomic challenges in the 21st century. The global economy entered a deep recession with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic just a few years after recovering from a the prolonged slump caused by the 2007-2009 global financial crisis. . In the aftermath of the pandemic, many countries experienced the highest inflation rates in decades, and more recently, fallout from trade tensions has created new economic risks. We will learn some of the key tools that macroeconomists use to understand these developments, explore the specific circumstances and institutions that shaped each episode, and consider what policies can mitigate the harm of economic disruptions. We will then turn to the macroeconomic challenge of promoting economic growth over the longer run. We will learn what factors drive differences in living standards over time and across countries and what policymakers can do to promote broad-based and sustainable economic growth in coming decades.