The NBER Macroeconomics Annual provides a forum for important debates in contemporary macroeconomics and major developments in the theory of macroeconomic analysis and policy. . The papers and accompanying discussions in NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2008, whichinclude contributions from leading economists from a variety of fields, address the timing of labor market expansions, macroeconomic dynamics in the Euro area, public health and the GDP, the role of technological progress on the formation of households, carry trades and currency crises, and new approaches to analyzing monetary policy.About the Author: Daron Acemoglu is the Charles P. Kinderberger Professor of Applied Economics atthe Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a research associate of the NBER. Kenneth Rogoff is the Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and professor of economics at Harvard University and a research associate of the NBER. Michael Woodford is the John Bates Clark Professor of Political Economy at Columbia University and a research associate of the NBER.