VERSION 2.1 This book evolved from a set of notes developed for the Global Economy course at New York University's Stern School of Business. The idea behind the course is to use the tools of macroeconomics to assess the economic performance of countries and the challenges facing businesses operating in them. We emphasize data; virtually every chapter includes links to useful data sources. These "notes," as we call them, are designed as background reading for our course. They focus on tools, leaving us to spend class time on applications. A complete set of materials -- a pdf of the ms, Stata files for figures, slides, etc -- is available at the NYU Stern Center for Global Economy and Business. If you can't find it, send us an email, we're easy to track down.