This book was written to provide instructors with an introductory text suitable for teaching students practical macroeconomics useful for interpreting macroeconomic commentary found in the business sections of newspapers. The first edition's success indicates that many instructors are unhappy with the encyclopedic approach of the traditional texts, with their emphasis on technical matters and lack of attention to real-world applications. Some instructors used the first edition as a text for a regular principles-of-macroeconomics class, some used it for an applied course following a traditional macro-principles class, some used it as a supplementary text for a traditional macro-principles course, and some used it as a text for an MBA macroeconomics course. All used it to produce students capable of interpreting media commentary on the macroeconomy.