Guide to the Web for Economics

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CHAPTER 5

Macroeconomic Measures

• Measuring Economic Growth
• Prices and Inflation
• Unemployment
• Business Cycles and the Economy
• Alphabetical(5)
• Global Index 

• Economic Statistics Briefing Room
  • Type: data Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: no
  • Provides easy access to current Federal economic indicators, including output, prices and unemployment. It provides links to information produced by a number of Federal agencies.
  • http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr/esbr.html
• Real Gross Domestic Product
  • Type: table Level: basic Length: long Links: yes Graphics: no
  • Page from the Bureau of Economic Analysis containing the most recent data tables for National Income and Product Accounts, providing nominal and real output measured quarterly and annually.
  • http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/dn/niptbl-d.htm
• Analysis of Gross Domestic Product
  • Type: text Level: basic Length: medium Links: yes Graphics: no
  • Page provides business implications and analysis of current GDP statistics with links to a description of GDP, forecasts of GDP and other economic indicators.
  • http://www.dismal.com/economy/releases/gdp.asp
• Office of Management and Budget
  • Type: list Level: intermediate Length: medium Links: yes Graphics: no Other: pdf
  • Page contains links to a plethora of information about the federal budget with the ability to download budget documents, including the Economic Report from the President.
  • http://www.access.gpo.gov/omb/index.html
• Economic Report of the President, 1999
  • Type: report; Level: intermediate; Length: long; Links: yes; Graphics: yes; Other: pdf/search
  • The University of California's Web interface to the full text of the Economic Report of the President, 1999. Clicking on Statistical Tables: Appendix B links to a plethora of economic data.
  • http://www.gpo.ucop.edu/catalog/erp99.html
• Economic Report of the President 1997
  • Type: publication Level: intermediate Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: pdf
  • Report provided on-line through a library requiring Adobe to view pdf files and software to view spreadsheet files.
  • http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/erp/1997/
• Survey of Current Business
  • Type: journal Level: intermediate Length: medium Links: yes Graphics: no Other: pdf
  • Contains this monthly journal from the Bureau of Economic Analysis along with links to regional, national, and international data and articles.
  • http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/pubs.htm
• Economic Information Sites
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: long Links: yes Graphics: no
  • Page provides links to sites for economics, corporations and associations, news, financial and investing, economic indicators, banking, web libraries, government, federal reserve banks and economic data.
  • http://www.dismal.com/economy/links.stm
• Current Economic Statistics
  • Type: table Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Page contains handy graphs of recent data on GDP, unemployment, the GDP deflator, productivity, and more. Page also contains a search mechanism and has links to other economics resources.
  • http://econ161.berkeley.edu/Teaching_Folder/current_statistics2.html
• Economic Insight/ Macro Edition
  • Type: article Level: intermediate Length: long Links: yes Graphics: no
  • An Internet publication of current economic trends and issues which contains data on recent changes in gross domestic product, price indexes, and other economic indicators.
  • http://www.econ-line.com/foster/macro/
• The Economeister
  • Type: article Level: intermediate Length: short Links: yes Graphics: no Other: search
  • A broad selection of Market News reports from around the globe with its own search engine and links for subscribing to real-time market news.
  • http://www.economeister.com/index.html?
• Econoday Products
  • Type: publication Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • A subscription-based on-line publication highlighting major economic and financial information for investors. Visit the on-line calendar demo and click a report for a sample of the data, graphs, and other information available.
  • http://www.econoday.com/products/
• State of the Nation
  • Type: list Level: intermediate Length: medium Links: yes Graphics: no
  • Page contains links to economic news releases for general indicators, housing and construction, employment, manufacturing and industry, monetary statistics and economic policy.
  • http://www.stat-usa.com/econtest.nsf
• Estimating GDP
  • Type: text Level: intermediate Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Page contains a discussion of the importance and difficulty in measuring gross domestic product and price indexes, and explains the importance of chain-weighting GDP.
  • http://www.westga.edu/~bquest/1996/csgdp.html
• Economic Growth Estimates and Trends
  • Type: article Level: intermediate Length: long Links: yes Graphics: no
  • Page contains a discussion of the magnitude of error in advance quarterly estimates of gross domestic product and explains the importance of long-run trends in GDP, with links to tables and graphs for advance estimates and trends.
  • http://www.townhall.com/heritage/library/categories/theory/fyi114.html
• Chain-weighting GDP
  • Type: article Level: advanced Length: short Links: yes Graphics: no Other: pdf
  • Page contains a synopsis of an article discussing the switch to chain-weighted measures of GDP levels and growth, with a link to the full text of the article.
  • http://www.ny.frb.org/rmaghome/curr_iss/ci1-9.html

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Alphabetical(5)

Global Index

Go to Contents

Prices and Inflation

• CPI Homepage
  • Type: list Level: intermediate Length: short Links: yes Graphics: no
  • An index of links to information about the consumer price index, including news releases, data, a description of the 1998 CPI revision, an overview of CPI data and uses and frequently asked questions.
  • http://stats.bls.gov/cpihome.htm
• CPI Analysis
  • Type: text Level: basic Length: medium Links: yes Graphics: no
  • Page provides business implications and analysis of current inflation statistics with links to a description of the CPI, forecasts of the CPI and other economic indicators.
  • http://www.dismal.com/economy/releases/cpi.asp
• CPI Calculator
  • Type: writing Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Site from the Fed bank of Minneapolis contains a handy calculator for entering an amount spent on goods and services in a given year and calculating the cost of the same goods or services in another year. Page also links to data on the CPI and inflation from 1913 to the present year.
  • http://woodrow.mpls.frb.fed.us/economy/calc/cpihome.html
• Inflation and the Time Value of Money
  • Type: table/writing Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Interactive page allows comparison of the value of specific goods across time using the category-specific consumer price indices to make calculations.
  • http://www.dismal.com/toolbox/cpi_time.stm
• GDP Deflator vs. the CPI
  • Type: writing Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: no
  • Page explains the difference between the GDP Implicit Price Deflator and the Consumer Price Index.
  • http://www.dismal.com/dqs/dq020998.stm
• Debts, Inflation and the Future
  • Type: publication Level: intermediate Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Page contains a lengthy essay from the 1970s on business cycles, stagflation and the Phillip's Curve.
  • http://www.fame.org/research/library/gcw-003.htm
• COLAs
  • Type: text Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Page explains cost-of-living adjustments providing charts of the use of COLAs in the workforce, with links to related information.
  • http://www.clev.frb.org/research/mar97et/coladj.htm
• Boskin Commission Report
  • Type: report Level: intermediate Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Page contains the final 1996 report of the Boskin Commission, an advisory committee appointed by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee to study the role of the CPI in government benefit programs and to make recommendations for any needed changes in measurement of the CPI.
  • http://199.173.225.3/history/reports/boskinrpt.html

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Alphabetical(5)

Global Index

Go to Contents

Unemployment

• CPS Homepage
  • Type: list Level: intermediate Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: pdf
  • An index of links to labor force statistics from the current population survey, including news releases, data, an overview of CPS data and uses and frequently asked questions.
  • http://stats.bls.gov/cpshome.htm
• Economy at a Glance
  • Type: table Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Page provides a quick reference to monthly data for the latest year on the unemployment rate and other major economic measures, with links to detailed graphs of the measures.
  • http://stats.bls.gov/eag.table.html
• Labor Force Statistics
  • Type: list Level: intermediate Length: short Links: yes Graphics: no Other: pdf/search
  • Page contains links to reports on labor force statistics and related sites.
  • http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/laborfor.html
• ESBR Employment
  • Type: publication Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Page provides a brief summary of the latest monthly statistics for the civilian labor force, unemployment, the unemployment rate, and more with links to the bureau of labor statistics and other economic data.
  • http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr/employment.html
• How the Government Measures Unemployment
  • Type: publication Level: basic Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Page discusses the methods used to measure unemployment, answering some of the most frequently raised questions about who is counted as unemployed and how unemployment is measured.
  • http://stats.bls.gov/cps_htgm.htm
• Census Bureau POPClocks
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Page gives an up-to-date estimate of U.S. and world population with links to other population statistics and topics.
  • http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html
• Types of Unemployment
  • Type: writing Level: intermediate Length: short Links: yes Graphics: no
  • Page contains notes on some major types of unemployment with links to graphs and additional notes on related topics.
  • http://ingrimayne.saintjoe.edu/econ/Labor/TypesUnempl.html
• Revisions in Labor Force Statistics
  • Type: publication Level: advanced Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Contains detailed text and graphics from an article discussing a revision of seasonally adjusted labor force statistics.
  • http://stats.bls.gov/cpsrs.htm
• Okun's Law Revisited
  • Type: publication Level: advanced Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Page contains a detailed discussion of the connection between unemployment and GDP growth, why the association may change, and related issues.
  • http://www.clev.frb.org/research/com97/0515.htm
• Labor Force Characteristics
  • Type: table Level: basic Length: short Links: no Graphics: yes
  • Page provides graphs of changes in the labor force and the labor force participation rate since the 1940s.
  • http://www.heritage.org/labor/workplace/charts/laborforce.html
• Employment Charts
  • Type: table Level: basic Length: medium Links: no Graphics: yes
  • Page provides graphs of changes in total employment and the employment-population ratio for men and women since the 1940s.
  • http://www.heritage.org/labor/workplace/charts/employment.html
• Unemployment Charts
  • Type: table Level: basic Length: medium Links: no Graphics: yes
  • Page provides graphs of changes in the level of unemployment and the unemployment rate since the 1940s.
  • http://www.heritage.org/labor/workplace/charts/unemployment.html
• Jobs Picture
  • Type: writing Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: no
  • Page contains a publication by the Economic Policy Institute analyzing the jobs picture each month after the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases their employment report.
  • http://epinet.org/webfeatures/econindicators/jobspict.html
• Payroll Employment
  • Type: report Level: intermediate Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: pdf/search
  • Site contains a Bank of America report mapping monthly changes in payroll employment, manufacturing, and the unemployment rate for recent months. Page also provides the report in a downloadable pdf format and allows for internal searches of the site.
  • http://www.bankamerica.com/capmkt/econ_payroll.html

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Alphabetical(5)

Global Index

Go to Contents

Business Cycles and the Economy

• Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions
  • Type: table Level: intermediate Length: medium Links: yes Graphics: no
  • Page contains a table of business cycle reference dates with duration of contraction, expansion and cycle, and a link to the National Bureau of Economic Research homepage.
  • http://www.nber.org/cycles.html
• Economic Letter
  • Type: publication Level: intermediate Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: pdf/search
  • A newsletter of the federal reserve bank of San Francisco, reporting on recent research of the 1980s expansion, with links to the bank's homepage, a search engine, FAQ and a glossary.
  • http://www.frbsf.org/econrsrch/wklyltr/el97-30.html
• FRB Beige Book Summary
  • Type: publication Level: intermediate Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Page summarizes general comments on current economic conditions received from businesses and other contacts, with links to comments in each of the twelve Federal Reserve districts.
  • http://www.bog.frb.fed.us/FOMC/BeigeBook/1999/19990120/default.htm
• Economy Track
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: medium Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • USA Todayís links to economy-wide data and analysis of consumer confidence, gross domestic product, the Fed, prices, unemployment and other measures of the economy.
  • http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/econ0001.htm
• TCB's Business Cycle Indicators
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Page from The Conference Board links to a wealth of information, articles, and news about leading economic indicators and business cycle indicators. Complete databases are available for subscribers.
  • http://www.tcb-indicators.org/
• Economics Illustrated
  • Type: writing Level: intermediate Length: medium Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Site features excerpts from a monthly publication that contains consensus expectations of a panel of 17 leading Wall Street economists. Includes predictions on GDP, inflation, unemployment, housing starts, trade, and more.
  • http://www.tradestreetinv.com/html/economics_illustrated.htm
• Housing Facts and Figures
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Site from the National Association of Home Builders providing links to information about the housing industry and its significance in the economy. Page includes statistics for housing starts, sales, prices, ownership rates, mortgage interest rates, forecasts, and much more.
  • http://www.nahb.com/pg12.html