The article discusses how economics studies how society makes choices about producing and sharing goods with limited resources. In a market economy like the US, most decisions are made by individuals and businesses in free markets. Microeconomics focuses on individual choices, while macroeconomics looks at the big picture of the national economy. The Great Depression in 1929 and economic problems in the 1940s and beyond show how economic issues have evolved over time. The 1970 recession revealed that high inflation and unemployment can happen together. Macroeconomics in the 1980s and beyond studies a complex world trying to achieve conflicting goals.