Аннотация:This brief essay is intended to provide readers with an introduction to the real business cycle approach to business fluctuations. It discusses the basic real business cycle framework; economic growth and business cycles; real business cycles and the 1954–1985 U.S. economy; government policies and suboptimal equilibrium; and the real business cycle research agenda. An appendix presents a more technical summary of the basic neoclassical model presented in the paper.