Economics studies how societies make choices about making and sharing goods with limited resources. Macroeconomics focuses on big-picture issues in the national economy, not individual actions. It looks at how the economy as a whole produces and sells goods, sets prices, and deals with inflation and deflation. In the 1960s, a concept called the Phillips Curve showed a trade-off between inflation and unemployment. Trying to lower unemployment could lead to higher inflation, and fighting inflation might mean accepting higher unemployment rates.