Resource of the Week: Finding and Using Economic Statistics
Resource of the Week
By Shirl Kennedy, Deputy Editor
I honestly can't remember how I happened onto this week's resource. I do remember that it stopped me in my virtual tracks because of the depth and quality of the content. Economic statistics are often useful and sometimes vital. But we may not understand them as well as we wish we did. And perhaps we're not quite sure where to obtain this kind of data in the first place...and how to use it once we have it. Well, why not let some experts do the legwork for you? (We really love these one-stop shopping sites here at ResourceShelf.)
NABE Links
Source: The National Association for Business Economics (NABE)
"This set of links is a guide to useful and interesting information in the field of business economics. We try to do more than just point you to the home page of many of these large, sprawling web sites -- we also try to take you directly to the most relevant pages, for data and analysis." Yessss! So let's have a look at the nine high-level categories here:
+ Macro Data and Links -- Included here are pointers to both financial and non-financial information available from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, the Conference Board, the Congressional Budget Office, the Council of Economic Advisors, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the U.S. Department of Treasury, as well as a variety of annotated links to sites providing unique resources.
+ International Data and Links -- Find pointers to information available from U.S. government agencies, statistical agencies of various countries (links are to English language pages), international agencies -- and a comprehensive, well-annotated list of links to other organizations offering quality data and more.
+ Micro/Industry Data and Links -- "These links focus on individual sectors of the economy, or individual industries. To organize them on this page, we've used the new NAICS codes. You'll find links to data from relevant government agencies, trade associations, business organizations and specific industry research groups." This page is nicely done, with annotations provided when something is not self-explanatory.
+ Regional Economic Data and Issues -- Here you can find links to data available from the Census Bureau, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Small Business Administration, the regional Federal Reserve Banks, city and county data books, academic entities, etc.
+ Federal Reserve Corner -- "This page serves two purposes. First, we want to set up a convenient set of links to the wealth of information and data available from Federal Reserve web sites. Second, we highlight interesting articles from Federal Reserve research publications with a brief review and a link to the whole article, where available."
+ Economic Blogs -- This page provides "a listing of blogs and other high-frequency sites that primarily talk about economic or financial subjects." Some of the links are annotated.
+ Economic Research Institutions and Think Tanks -- Good list, with comprehensive annotations.
+ Financial Market News and Data -- Basically a list of media outlets, newswires, aggregators, and financial market websites.
+ Tools for Economics and Finance -- This category includes econometric, statistical, and mathematical software, as well as spreadsheet add-ins. Annotated links to both free and commercial resources.
"NABE® is an association of professionals who have an interest in business economics and who want to use the latest economic data and trends to enhance their ability to make sound business decisions. There are approximately 2,500 members representing more than 1,500 businesses and other organizations from around the world. Since its founding in 1959, NABE® has continued to attract the attention of the most influential and prestigious economic leaders in business. Past Presidents have included several former Federal Reserve Governors, the former Chairman of the Board of Governors for the Federal Reserve System, Alan Greenspan, and other senior business leaders." Pretty good credentials, no?
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