Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!howland.erols.net!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.atl!newsfeed.mco!thorn.cc.usm.edu!not-for-mail From: Bill.Goffe@usm.edu (Bill Goffe) Newsgroups: usm.test.unmoderated,sci.econ,sci.answers,news.answers Subject: Econ. Resources on the Internet [3 of 20] Supersedes: Followup-To: poster Date: 10 Nov 1999 23:27:21 -0000 Organization: American Economic Association Lines: 1082 Sender: bgoffe@cook.cba.usm.edu Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Distribution: world Expires: 10 Dec 99 23:27:15 -0000 Message-ID: References: Reply-To: Bill.Goffe@usm.edu (Bill Goffe) NNTP-Posting-Host: cook.cba.usm.edu Summary: This document contains a list of resources of interest to economists. It should be of interest to anyone looking for economic and related information. Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu sci.econ:112408 sci.answers:10832 news.answers:170814 Posted-By: auto-faq 3.3 (Perl 5.005) Archive-name: econ-resources-faq/part3 Aux-Header: Posting-Frequency: monthly Sci-econ-research-archive-name: econ-resources-faq/ Last-modified 1999/09/30 Version: vol. 4 no. 2 Url: http://rfe.org Resources for Economists on the Internet, Vol. 4, No. 2, September, 1999 Editor: Bill Goffe Editorial Assistant: Elise Braden Part 3 of 20 This guide, sponsored by the American Economic Association, lists more than 1,000 resources on the Internet of interest to academic and practicing economists, and those interested in economics. Almost all resources are also described. Resources for Economists on the Internet (RFE) is a copyrighted work of the American Economic Association (the "AEA"). Permission to make digital, electronic or hard copies of part or all of RFE for personal or classroom use, Usenet distribution, or mailing lists is granted, provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or direct commercial advantage and that whole copies show the following notice: "Resources for Economists on the Internet (RFE), Copyright 1999 American Economic Association" Otherwise the AEA owns the exclusive right to print, publish, distribute, reproduce, sell, prepare derivative works, transmit, download, or otherwise transfer copies of RFE. Copyrights of components of this work owned by others than the AEA must be honored and attributed to the rightful owner. Abstracting and short quotes are permitted. To copy otherwise or to republish otherwise, including on web pages, in whole or in part requires prior specific permission. Permissions may be requested from the American Economic Association, 2014 Broadway, Suite 305, Nashville, TN 37203, or via E-mail: aeainfo@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu. RFE is provided without any express or implied warranty. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For distribution via Usenet, this FAQ is split into 20 parts as large files don't travel well on Usenet. For other locations of this guide, see the section titled "1.5 Where to Obtain This Guide" in part 2. 2.0 Data 2.1.0 U.S. Macro and Regional Data 2.1.1 Economic Indicators 104th Congress [most major releases; no graphs] This data is prepared for the Joint Economic Committee by the President's Council of Economic Advisors. This site offers news releases on the current and recent past performance of the U.S. economy. While material can be searched for, the "Catalog or Table of Contents Listing," which offers monthly reports, is probably the easiest way to view the material. This site is run by the University of California for the Government Printing Office and is updated monthly. # http://www.gpo.ucop.edu/info/econind.html + 2.1.2 Economic-Indicators.com + + [links to data and current numbers] + + This site is by R. Mark Rogers and is the on-line companion to his + book "The Handbook of Key Economic Indicators" (he is also at the + Atlanta Fed). He lists links to macro data, with some emphasis on + recent releases and commentary on the current state of the economy. + Overall, it offers very extensive coverage. + + The category "Economic Indicators, Summary Data Tables" contains the + latest U.S. macro data. The data is updated weekly. + + The category "Economic News and News Releases" contains (besides the + above): + + # Financial or Economic News Updates + # Current Economic Analysis + # Economic Calendars + # Economic News Releases from Agencies + + In addition, there are the following categories for data: + + # Monetary and Fiscal Policy Links + # Interest Rates and Currency Exchange Rates + # U.S. Statistical or Economic Policy Departments and Agencies + # Federal Reserve System and Non-U.S. Central Banks + # International Statistical or Economic Policy Agencies + # Sites for Downloading Data, Actual and Forecast Series + + Finally, technical papers on "indicator methodologies" as well as + information about Mark Rogers and the book are available here. + + # http://www.Economic-Indicators.Com/ 2.1.3 Economic Statistics Briefing Room (ESBR) [handful of most important data series with graphs (White House site)] This part of the White House web site offers summary data and graphs of macroeconomic series. While the series are relatively short, it is convenient to have summary information in one place with links to the originator. Data is organized in the following categories: output; income; employment, unemployment, and earnings; production and business activity; prices; money, credit, and securities markets; transportation; and international statistics. # http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr/esbr.html 2.1.4 Econ Data & Links [current values and links to sites that generate them] This site, run by John A. Shaw, offers current economic data and links for a number of different variables. Most of the data is from the U.S., but there is also data from Australia; California; and Fresno, California; as well as links to other countries. To quote from the author, "Over the years I have found that I cannot always remember the current value of a particular economic statistic. This page was created to provide quick access to a variety of up-to-date statistics... In addition, when it was feasible the links in the table were chosen so the user has access to time series or data for other areas and to related data. Often you will have to follow the links or peruse a document or table to get to the particular statistic ..." # http://www.csufresno.edu/Economics/econ_EDL.htm # John Shaw 2.1.5 Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) [National Income and Produce Accounts (GDP, etc.), international and regional data] Perhaps the most important data on the U.S. economy is found here: the National Income and Products Account (NIPA): GDP and its components, personal income, and corporate profits. There is both current and historical NIPA data -- quarterly from 1946, and annual from 1929. They also offer extensive international data (Balance of Payments, Exports and Imports, Investment Position, U.S Direct Investment Abroad, and Foreign Direct Investment in the United States) from recent years in a variety of formats. On the regional side, it offers Gross State Product (GSP), State Personal Income (some annual data from as far back as 1929, with more recent quarterly data), Local Area Personal and Per Capita Personal Income, and Employment and Income Projections. Finally, it offers gross product by Industry and Tangible Wealth. In terms of reports, it offers the BEA monthly journal, "Survey of Current Business," which frequently explains recent data, changes in survey methods, and the like. This journal is offered online, free of charge. Finally, it offers extensive documentation on the methodologies of the Bureau of Economic Analysis and guides to their data, as well as information about themselves. # http://www.bea.doc.gov/ 2.1.6 Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) [more than 250,000 long series; unemp. and price series most prominent] The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is perhaps best known for reporting the unemployment rate and CPI, but they generate a very extensive amount of other data as well. Their LABSTAT database is very extensive and detailed -- in all, it contains hundreds of thousands of time series. Their data consists of: # Average Price Data # Collective Bargaining-State and Local Government # Collective Bargaining-Private Sector # Consumer Price Index-All Urban Consumers # Consumer Price Index-Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers # Consumer Expenditure Survey # Employee Benefits Survey # Employment Cost Index # Employment, Hours, and Earnings-National # International Price Index # Employment Projections by Industry # Geographic Profile # Occupational Injury and Illness Rates # International Labor Statistics # Local Area Unemployment Statistics # Department Store Inventory Price Index # Major Sector Multifactor Productivity Index # Producer Price Index # Major Sector Productivity and Costs Index # State and Area Employment, Hours, and Earnings # Occupational Injury and Illness Rates # Work Stoppage Data For detailed access to their hundreds of thousands of series, their "Selective Access" section is quite useful. Experienced users can also directly retrieve a series with the BLS series id. The majority of users will be satisfied with their "Most Requested Series" section. Besides current and historical data, they have press releases on recent data releases (quite useful for tracking the economy), current summary data in "The Economy at a Glance" section, the Monthly Labor Review and details on their various programs and the BLS itself. # http://stats.bls.gov/ # gopher://stats.bls.gov:70/1/ # ftp://stats.bls.gov # Information (Internet access): 2.1.7 Conference Board ["Leading Economic Indicators" and non-govt. data] This organization "is the world's leading business research and membership organization with 2,800 companies and other enterprises in 63 counties." For data, of particular note are their "Leading, Coincident, and Lagging Indicators," which are composite indexes of macro variables that lead the business cycle, coincide with it, or lag behind it. The most recent release is available here, as are their values from 1959. There is also information on how the series are put together. They also offer the "Business Cycle Indicators" database, which has some 250 macro variables "that have proven to be most useful in determining current conditions and predicting the future direction of the economy." About half the sources are private. Data is updated several times a month, and is in both spreadsheet and ASCII formats. It costs $250 a year for individuals, and site licenses and educational discounts are available. # http://www.tcb-indicators.org 2.1.8 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) [current federal spending and revenue; macro forecasts] This agency was created by Congress in 1974. Its "mission is to provide the Congress with objective, timely, nonpartisan analyses needed for economic and budget decisions and with the information and estimates required for the Congressional budget process." It is best known for its estimates of federal spending, revenue, and the resulting deficit, but it also generates numerous reports, studies, papers, and memorandums (the different names reflect different levels of review and how the document was requested). Every new one is available here, as well as Congressional testimony and cost estimates, and they cover the complete range of federal spending and taxing (both at the aggregate level and down to specific programs). Besides these reports, they offer considerable data. Their "Current Budget Projections" is their well-known twice-annual budget projections, which contain many details besides the basic federal revenues, expenses, and deficit. "Current Economic Projections" offer both short-range (18-24 month) and long-range macro forecasts (the latter do not include cyclical fluctuations). Their "Historical Budget Data" contains extensive information on not just budgetary data, but actual and potential GDP and the NAIRU (the "non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment," or the rate of unemployment consistent with stable inflation). "Current Status of Discretionary Appropriations" details this category of spending. Finally, their "Monthly Budget Review" summaries federal spending, revenue, and the deficit month-by-month. # http://www.cbo.gov/ 2.1.9 Federal Budget for the Fiscal Year 2000 [summary and very detailed federal budget info] This site offers a wealth of information on the U.S. federal budget. Students and others with a limited background should find "A Citizen's Guide to the Federal Budget" to be very useful. Besides the budget itself (which is in considerable detail), one can also find a wealth of historical and some forecasted information (some of the data starts in 1901). Data is available in spreadsheet format. # http://www.access.gpo.gov/omb/ 2.1.10 Survey of Consumers from the Univ. of Michigan [well-known survey of consumer attitudes] Information about this famous survey on consumer beliefs and expectations (including the Index of Consumer Expectations) and the data itself can be found here. As one might expect, the Index has many components, each of which is reported here. Data, charts and various reports are available. # http://athena.sca.isr.umich.edu 2.1.11 Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) ["White Papers" on policy] Besides some information on the Council and its members, this site offers four things: the current "Economic Report of the President," "Changing America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being by Race and Hispanic Origin," its white papers on policy matters, and "Monthly Economic Indicators." However, the latter is somewhat difficult to use as the only interface to it is via a search engine -- you must have some idea of what terms occur in the material if you want to read it. # http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/CEA/html/CEA.html 2.1.12 Economic Report of the President: 1999 [President's policies and a fair number of time series] This site offers the 1999 Economic Report of the President. Besides the text (in ASCII and PDF), it also includes the statistical tables from the appendices in various formats. Text is in plain format (there appear to be no charts). Data is offered in spreadsheet, text, and PDF formats. # http://www.gpo.ucop.edu/catalog/erp99.html 2.1.13 Economic Reports of the President: 1996-1999 [old reports] You can search some old versions of this publication here, as well as read the 1999 report in PDF format. The full documents and data are said to be available, but they do not seem to be available. # http://www.access.gpo.gov/eop/ 2.1.14 Economic Reports of the President: 1992-94 [old reports] Old versions of some issues of this publication are available here. Some have data and graphs, and some do not. # gopher://gopher.umsl.edu:70/11/library/govdocs/erps/ 2.1.15 EconData [very extensive data, but requires a downloadable program] This database is collected from a variety of U.S. government agencies by INFORUM, a project building an inter-industry model of the U.S. economy. It contains a wide variety of macro data, regional, and international data and places it in a common format. A slightly abridged list of categories includes # Annual U.S. Data: # Annual National Income and Product Accounts # Annual Jobs, Hours, and Output # Gross Output and Product by Industry # SIC Shipments by Manufacturing Products # International Sales and Purchases of Private Services # County Business Patterns # Value of Construction Put in Place # Annual Survey of Manufactures # Annual Retail Trade # Service Annual Survey # Annual Sales of Merchant Wholesalers # Quarterly U.S. Data: # Quarterly National Income and Product Accounts # SIC Export & Import # Monthly National Employment, Hours, & Earnings # Consumer Price Indexes # U.S. Import Price Indexes Locality of Origin # BEA End Use Export and Import Indexes # Harmonized System Export & Import # SITC Export & Import Price Indices # Industrial Production # Kilowatt Hours # Capacity and Capacity Utilization # State & Local Data: # Gross State Product (regions and states) # State Personal Income # Hours and Earnings # Employment by State # International Data: # Foreign Trade by Country and Area # Exports and Imports by 2-digit SIC # U.S. Intl. Transactions & US Trade in Goods # Average Exchange Rates The data is accessed by programs (only for PCs) provided by this project and it can easily be output to ASCII or into a spreadsheet format. The data is also compressed with pkzip, and they provide this and similar programs as well. # http://inforumWeb.umd.edu/Econdata.html 2.1.16 Economic Information Systems [key long time series] This firm sells value-added software and consulting services, and as a sidelight offers a substantial amount of historical (from the beginning of the series) and current data in a useful format. This includes formatted National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA, which includes such variables as GDP); Flow of Funds Accounts, reserves, credit, interest rates, and monetary data from the Federal Reserve; gross state product and personal income data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and state and metro area employment by industry from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Such formatting makes the data particularly useful as it is easy to import into statistical and spreadsheet programs. The site also lists 4 digit SIC codes, and there is a concordance between SIC codes and NAICS (North American Industrial Classification System) codes. They also offer "Economic Insight," which provides economic analysis and of the U.S. economy, the states, and for metro and counties. # http://www.econ-line.com/ 2.1.17 Economagic [excellent source of macro time series (some 100,000 series available)] According to Ted Bos, this site is a major overhaul, and indeed replaces his "Economics Time Series Page." Thus, it is a one-stop-shop for a variety of time series data: "This page is meant to be a comprehensive site of free, easily available economic time series data useful for economic research, in particular economic forecasting." In all, over 100,000 time series are available. Users can build charts of the series on-line without the need to download the data and using their own charting software. Data comes from a variety of sources: the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis' FRED database, other Federal Reserve Banks, Business Cycle Indicators (some 250 time series that behave consistently over the business cycle, but which has not been updated in several years), the BLS's employment and unemployment data, the BEA's national accounts data, and retail sales and building permits data from Census. There is even tax collection data from the IRS. Downloading is particularly easy with some 8,000 series -- you can click on a file and Excel will automatically start with the data (this assumes you you are running MS Excel and your browser is configured to call it when you click on an .xls file). In addition to the data offered by the "Economic Time Series Page," EconoMagic adds the BLS Labor Force data. For features, it offers mechanical forecasts of the data for subscribers. The user can input their own data, or use the data from the site. Various variables can be used to aid the forecast, and this includes the public forecasts of key macro variables. # http://www.Economagic.com 2.1.18 FRB of St. Louis [very convenient macro data source with key (500) macro series] The major resource of this site is FRED, their macro database. In all, more than 500 different macro, monetary, and financial time series are available from a variety of different sources. Information in this source is current, relatively extensive, easily available, and easily downloaded. Data comes in the following categories: # Daily/Weekly U.S. Financial Data # Monthly Monetary Data # Monthly Interest Rates # Monthly Reserves Data # Monthly Commercial Banking Data # Business/Fiscal Data # Quarterly Gross Domestic Product and Components # Monthly Consumer Price Indexes # Monthly Producer Price Indexes # Monthly Employment and Population Data # Exchange Rate Data and Balance of Payments Data # Monthly Regional Data (for the 8th District) Each category consists of a large number of series (forty is not at all uncommon). Each series is available in an ASCII file, suitable for very easy downloading. Each group can also be downloaded as a compressed or zipped file. Most series are available for long or very long periods, and the most recent values are quite current. In addition, compressed files are available with all series in each category. To help users find data, information on all files is available in one summary file. You can also arrange for new data to be e-mailed to you. This site also offers information on the St. Louis Fed and the Federal Reserve System, banking information, community affairs, economic research, and educational opportunities. Articles, data, and programs from the St. Louis Fed "Review" since 1993 are available here. Copies of the "Regional Economist", "Annual Report," and the "Beige Book" are also available. Data publications include "Monetary Trends," "National Economic Trends," International Economic Trends," and "U.S. Financial Data." Newsletters include "Bridges," "Inside the Vault," "Central Banker," and "Payments Quarterly." # http://www.stls.frb.org 2.1.19 Haver Analytics [emphasis on rapid delivery, quality checks, and very wide coverage (fee-based)] This firm provides "the most accurate and timely economic data available. By using time tested computer programs we are able to provide most of the time sensitive data within 10-25 minutes of release. In addition, we do extensive quality assurance checks on every series before it is made available to clients." In all, they have 60 databases with data from 100 sources. Besides the usual U.S. macro data, they also offer daily and weekly data, forecasts, data from Canada, Germany, Japan, Europe, the OECD, emerging markets, and energy statistics. # http://www.haver.com/ 2.1.20 STAT-USA [broad and current coverage] This site, run by the Department of Commerce, specializes in timely reporting of federal government statistics. Thus, rather than going to Census, BLS, the Fed, and the BEA for different series and reports, you can go to this single site. Retrieving most of the data requires payment -- subscriptions (both for individuals and site licenses) are available, and single reports can also be purchased. While most (nearly all?) of the data can be found elsewhere on the Internet, some users might prefer the ability to go to a single well-organized site. For those interested in the most recent statistics, a particularly useful section is the "Newsstand" -- it has recent data, and it is where individual reports can be purchased. The "State of the Nation" contains the data. Besides daily and "hot" releases, its major headings are: # General Economic Indicators # Housing and Construction # Employment # Manufacturing and Industry # Monetary Statistics # Economic Policy # http://www.stat-usa.gov 2.1.21 National Income and Product Accounts (Univ. of Virginia) [graph NIPA data on-line and get data] This site at the University of Virginia allows one to graph data from the National Income and Product Accounts (GDP and such); Personal Income and Outlays; Government Receipts and Expenditures; Foreign Transactions; Saving and Investment; Income, Employment, and Product by Industry; Quantity and Price Indexes; and Supplementary Tables. With each, you can pick a series and plot the data. # http://www.lib.virginia.edu/socsci/nipa/ 2.1.22 NBER's Macro-Historical Database [pre-WW II data from the U.S., U.K., France, and Germany] This database comes from the National Bureau of Economic Research's early history. To quote from its introduction: "During the first several decades of its existence, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) assembled an extensive data set that covers all aspects of the pre-WWI and interwar economies, including production, construction, employment, money, prices, asset market transactions, foreign trade, and government activity. Many series are highly disaggregated, and many exist at the monthly or quarterly frequency. The data set has some coverage of the United Kingdom, France and Germany, although it predominantly covers the United States." In all, more than 3,500 series are available. More details can be found in "Improving the Accessibility of the NBER's Historical Data, Daniel Feenberg and Jeff Miron, Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, vol. 15 num. 3, July 1997, pp. 293-299 (also NBER Working Paper no. 5186). More detailed paper documentation is available from the NBER, and an on-line "analytical index" is available as well. Data is arranged in 16 chapters; they are # Production of Commodities # Construction # Transportation and Public Utilities # Prices # Stocks of Commodities # Distribution of Commodities # Foreign Trade # Income and Employment # Financial Status of Business # Savings and Investment # Security Markets # Volume of Transactions # Interest Rates # Money and Banking # Government and Finance # Leading Indicators Data are offered in Micro-TSP.db format (which is pure ASCII) and is supported directly by RATS, TSP, EViews, and other packages. # http://www.nber.org/databases/macrohistory/contents/index.html 2.1.23 USinfostore.com [buy 60,000 macro series] This firm resells some 60,000 different macro time series; they offer convenience by gathering series from many sources and making them available in one place. They focus on: # Flow of Funds # National Income and Product Accounts # Output and Productivity # Employment # Prices # Money, Interest Rates, and Foreign Exchange They offer a search service for their data, an on-line charting capability, and the ability to download the data into Excel spreadsheets. They have two subscription levels: the less expensive one is $39 a month for some 10,000 series, and the complete service is $99 a month. Finally, their "Top 150+" service is free -- all you need to do is register. # http://www.usinfostore.com/ 2.1.24 County and City Databooks [useful extraction engine] This service takes data from the BLS's 1988 and 1994 County and City Databooks, and converts the data to a particularly easy to use format. The data available is extensive and varied; there are more than 200 variables, and they can be output in a variety of formats. # http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/ccdb/ 2.1.25 EconData [very extensive data, but requires a downloadable program] This database is collected from a variety of U.S. government agencies by INFORUM, a project building an inter-industry model of the U.S. economy. It contains a wide variety of macro data, regional, and international data and places it in a common format. A slightly abridged list of categories includes # Annual U.S. Data: # Annual National Income and Product Accounts # Annual Jobs, Hours, and Output # Gross Output and Product by Industry # SIC Shipments by Manufacturing Products # International Sales and Purchases of Private Services # County Business Patterns # Value of Construction Put in Place # Annual Survey of Manufactures # Annual Retail Trade # Service Annual Survey # Annual Sales of Merchant Wholesalers # Quarterly U.S. Data: # Quarterly National Income and Product Accounts # SIC Export & Import # Monthly National Employment, Hours, & Earnings # Consumer Price Indexes # U.S. Import Price Indexes Locality of Origin # BEA End Use Export and Import Indexes # Harmonized System Export & Import # SITC Export & Import Price Indices # Industrial Production # Kilowatt Hours # Capacity and Capacity Utilization # State & Local Data: # Gross State Product (regions and states) # State Personal Income # Hours and Earnings # Employment by State # International Data: # Foreign Trade by Country and Area # Exports and Imports by 2-digit SIC # U.S. Intl. Transactions & US Trade in Goods # Average Exchange Rates The data is accessed by programs (only for PCs) provided by this project and it can easily be output to ASCII or into a spreadsheet format. The data is also compressed with pkzip, and they provide this and similar programs as well. # http://inforumWeb.umd.edu/Econdata.html 2.1.26 Regional Economic Information System [nice extraction engine for employment and earnings data] This system, sponsored by the University of Virginia's Geospatial and Statistical Data Center, has a very extensive collection of employment and earnings variables collected by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) from 1969 to 1995 for (i) U.S. regions, (ii) U.S. states and counties, (iii) U.S. MSAs, and (iv) BEA Economic areas. Large extractions from this database can even be placed on an ftp site for ease of use. # http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/reis/ + 2.1.27 Dismal.com Economic Calendar + + [find release dates and forecasts for data] + + This section of "The Dismal Scientist" offers a very useful calendar + of macroeconomic data releases. It often includes the consensus + forecast (from Thomson Global Markets), as well as the value for the + last period. It also covers some data from outside the U.S. + + # http://www.Dismal.com/economy/releases/calendar.asp 2.1.1.0 Federal Reserve 2.1.1.1 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System [broad and detailed financial and monetary data] This site offers extensive material about the Federal Reserve (including a listing of its regulations from A to Z), a very extensive list of their books, pamphlets, staff studies, periodic releases, press releases, and miscellaneous publications (with ordering information). There is a section devoted to the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which includes meeting dates, the Beige Book, minutes, transcripts, and press releases. There are also press releases, speeches and testimony (including Humphrey-Hawkins), consumer information, regulatory information, and numerous reports to Congress. This "background" information is quite extensive. They also offer various "Surveys and Reports." This includes the triennial "Survey of Consumer Finances," "National Survey of Small Business Finances," "Senior Financial Officer Survey," "Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices," and "Survey of Corporate Medium Term Notes." Very extensive data is also in the "Statistics: Releases and Historical Data" section. This includes the following releases: # Commercial Paper # H.15 Selected Interest Rates # H.3 Aggregate Reserves of Depository Institutions and the Monetary Base # H.4.1 Factors Affecting Reserve Balances # H.6 Money Stock, Liquid Assets, and Debt Measures # H.8 Assets and Liabilities of Commercial Banks in the United States # H.10 Foreign Exchange Rates # H.15 Selected Interest Rates # G.5 Foreign Exchange Rates # G.13 Selected Interest Rates # G.17 Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization # G.19 Consumer Credit # G.20 Finance Companies # E.2 Survey of Terms of Bank Lending to Business # E.16 Country Exposure Lending Survey # Z.1 Flow of Funds Accounts of the United States # Corporate Medium-Term Notes # G.5A Foreign Exchange Rates Many of these releases include long historical time series. Some are of high frequency, and many series begin years ago. The frequency of new data varies: some are daily, some weekly, some monthly, some quarterly, and some annual. The breadth of many of these releases is quite surprising. There is also extensive information on bank and financial market regulation and supervision (including supervision manuals), and information for consumers. Some articles from the "Federal Reserve Bulletin" are available, as are many working papers from the staff. Finally, the offer a link to "Fed in Print," a database of Federal Reserve publications. # http://www.bog.frb.fed.us 2.1.1.2 FRB of Atlanta Besides information about the bank and the Federal Reserve (including educational information and some Treasury information), you can also find regional economic information for this, the 6th Federal Reserve District, links to other regional data, and their publication "Regional Update." Among publications, you'll find their "Economic Review," "Economics Update" and "Financial Update." Finally, they offer their videos, press releases, speeches, information on their publications, and research working papers. # http://www.frbatlanta.org/ 2.1.1.3 FRB of Boston This Federal Reserve Bank offers information about itself, material for education and public service (including frequently asked questions of their research library), and information on financial services for consumers (including Treasury Direct). For regional data, for this, the 1st Federal Reserve District, they offer extensive links to information on their region's states, as well as a link to the "New England Electronic Economic Data Center" (NEEEDc)), which is run by Jim Breece of the University of Maine. The data is published in the "New England Economic Indicators" and the "New England Banking Trends." It has some 90 variables from 1969 for all states and some metropolitan areas and GSP data for the New England area from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Finally, you can read their publications "New England Economic Review," "New England Economic Indicators," "Regional Review," "Fiscal Facts," "New England Banking Trends," "Bank Notes," "FedFlash," and "Fedtalk." Conference proceedings, research reports, press releases, and working papers from the bank's staff are on-line as well. # http://www.bos.frb.org/ 2.1.1.4 FRB of Chicago This site includes a number of guides to the Chicago Fed (the 7th Federal Reserve District), the Fed in general, and financial markets (including extensive information on Treasury securities). Some of this will be of interest to economic educators (they also have a large section with education specific material). Many of their publications are available as well; these include "Agricultural Letter," "Chicago Fed Letter," "Economic Perspectives," "FedWire," "Detroit FedPoints," "Economic Development News & Views,"Profitwise," "Midwest Economic Report," and "On Reserve." This material will be of interest to economists, the general public, consumers, and educators who have an interest in the many activities of the Fed. There is also some regional economic information, as well as various reports, working papers, working papers by their staff, and speeches. # http://www.frbchi.org/ 2.1.1.5 FRB of Cleveland [particularly nice macro publications] This site first offers extensive information about this Federal Reserve Bank, which covers the 4th Federal Reserve District. In addition, they have various public announcements, but likely to be of the most interest are their publications. Under the heading of Economic Research there is "Economic Commentary," which analyzes recent events (it would be an excellent classroom supplement), and "Economic Trends" (which examines and plots recent economic statistics), and the "Economic Review" (which offers detailed analysis of economic issues). They also offer working papers from their Financial Services Research Group. Under the banking category they offer the "Community Reinvestment Forum," "Fourth District Focus: News for Depository Institutions," and "Fourth District Dialogue," "FedWord," and "Fourth District Operating Circulars." In addition, there are entries for functional areas of the bank: Banking Supervision and Regulation (BS&R), Corporate Communications (CC), Community Reinvestment (CR), Data Services, Economic Research, Electronic Payments, Marketing, and Securities. Finally, they list employment opportunities with the bank, and other resources on the Internet. # http://www.clev.frb.org/ 2.1.1.6 FRB of Dallas This federal reserve bank offers information about itself and the Federal Reserve System. In addition, they offer many of their publications: "Southwest Economy," "Financial Industry Issues," "Financial Industry Trends," "Houston Business," "Financial Industry Studies," "Banking and Community Perspectives," "Vista," and "Economic Insights" (which offers "commentary from Dallas Fed president, Robert D. McTeer and noted public policymakers and analysts on a variety of economic topics of current interest"), and their quarterly research journal "Economic Review". They also offer summary regional economic data for this, the 11th Federal Reserve District, numerous links to macro data (including the Conference Board's Leading, Lagging, and Coincident Indices). They also offer their exchange rate measure, (the Trade Weighted Value of the Dollar (TWVD)), and two regional indicators: Texas Industrial Production Index (TIPI), and Texas Index of Leading Indicators (TILI). Finally, they have information on bank supervision, and their Center For Latin American Economics. # http://www.dallasfed.org/ 2.1.1.7 FRB of Kansas City This federal reserve bank offers information about itself and the Federal Reserve System. Additional information is offered by functional areas: Economic Research, Bank Supervision, Community Affairs, Financial Services, Public Affairs, and Consumer Affairs. Economic Research offers a wide range of interesting material: their "Economic Review," "Regional Economic Digest," "Economic Forces Shaping the Heartland," "Financing Rural America," and their symposia. For the financial sector, they offer "Financial Industry Perspectives," "Financial Industry Trends," and "Fed Letter." For regional data (this is the 10th Federal Reserve District), they offer their "Manufacturing Survey," and offer extensive regional data from their "Regional Economic Update," which includes information in the following areas: employment, income and taxes, business activity, construction, energy, agriculture, and banking. Finally, they offer abstracts of their working papers. # http://www.kc.frb.org/ 2.1.1.8 FRB of Minneapolis Besides information on the Fed and itself, they offer fairly extensive regional (Ninth District) data: agriculture, banking, business, construction and real estate, exports, labor markets, natural resources, population, and travel and tourism. There are also links to macro data. They also offer their publications: "Quarterly Review," "Fedgazette," "The Region," their "Annual Report," and "Community Dividend." Papers from their economists (staff reports, working papers, and discussion papers) are available too. Of special interest is the "Economic War Between the States" section, which deals with development incentives that states offer on a competitive basis. They also offer extensive banking information. Finally, they provide nice educational information. # http://woodrow.mpls.frb.fed.us/ 2.1.1.9 FRB of New York [more than the usual amount of material; includes current exchange rates] Besides offering extensive information on themselves (they cover the 2nd Federal Reserve District) and the Federal Reserve in general, this site has extensive information on banking (including regulatory issues), various news items (including news in various financial markets and from speeches), and same day exchange rate and interest rate information (see the "Statistics" section). Regarding publications, they offer their "Annual Report," "Current Issues in Economics and Finance" (which focuses on "specific public policy issues"), "Economic Policy Review," ("a policy-oriented research journal on macroeconomics, banking, and financial market topics"), "Research Update" (which summarizes recent research), "Staff Reports," and "Research Papers." There is also extensive educational information (some of the publications can be ordered on-line). For statistics, they offer considerable interest rate data (some from the early part of this century). This includes the Federal Funds rate, the Discount Rate, the Prime Rate and some CD data. Finally, there is considerable information for consumers on savings bonds and the Treasury Direct Program. # http://www.ny.frb.org/ 2.1.1.10 FRB of Philadelphia [well known for surveys of macro forecasts] Besides the usual information on itself and the Fed in general (including press releases), they offer two surveys of macro forecasts: the "Livingston Survey" and the "Survey of Professional Forecasters." They also offer extensive regional information (they cover the 3rd Federal Reserve District), banking information, consumer information, working papers from their research department, and their "Business Review." # http://www.phil.frb.org/ 2.1.1.11 FRB of Richmond Besides offering general information (including news releases and material for educators), this federal reserve bank (for the 5th Federal Reserve District), also has extensive material on banking for its member banks, information for consumers, and community affairs. There is also extensive regional information. Finally, it also includes the research department's working paper series, "Annual Report," and its "Economic Quarterly." # http://www.rich.frb.org/ 2.1.1.12 FRB of San Francisco [offers "Fed in Print" database] This site offers information about itself and the Federal Reserve System as a whole (this includes extensive educational material, including downloadable simulators for monetary and fiscal policy). Of particular interest are their publications: "Economic Letters" (formerly the "Weekly Letter"), "Economic Review," and "Western Economic Developments." Of topical interest is "FedViews," which analyses economic events on a very frequent basis. This Federal Reserve Bank is home to "Fed in Print," a database of many types of Federal Reserve publications, including working papers. There is also extensive information for banking and financial services, community affairs, and consumer information. # http://www.frbsf.org/ 2.1.1.13 FRB of St. Louis [very convenient macro data source with key (500) macro series] The major resource of this site is FRED, their macro database. In all, more than 500 different macro, monetary, and financial time series are available from a variety of different sources. Information in this source is current, relatively extensive, easily available, and easily downloaded. Data comes in the following categories: # Daily/Weekly U.S. Financial Data # Monthly Monetary Data # Monthly Interest Rates # Monthly Reserves Data # Monthly Commercial Banking Data # Business/Fiscal Data # Quarterly Gross Domestic Product and Components # Monthly Consumer Price Indexes # Monthly Producer Price Indexes # Monthly Employment and Population Data # Exchange Rate Data and Balance of Payments Data # Monthly Regional Data (for the 8th District) Each category consists of a large number of series (forty is not at all uncommon). Each series is available in an ASCII file, suitable for very easy downloading. Each group can also be downloaded as a compressed or zipped file. Most series are available for long or very long periods, and the most recent values are quite current. In addition, compressed files are available with all series in each category. To help users find data, information on all files is available in one summary file. You can also arrange for new data to be e-mailed to you. This site also offers information on the St. Louis Fed and the Federal Reserve System, banking information, community affairs, economic research, and educational opportunities. Articles, data, and programs from the St. Louis Fed "Review" since 1993 are available here. Copies of the "Regional Economist", "Annual Report," and the "Beige Book" are also available. Data publications include "Monetary Trends," "National Economic Trends," International Economic Trends," and "U.S. Financial Data." Newsletters include "Bridges," "Inside the Vault," "Central Banker," and "Payments Quarterly." # http://www.stls.frb.org