last modified:  January 15, 2007

Links

 

Contents

 

 

Educational resources and research tools

Effective study methods for economics students, by Ron Cronovich

Guidelines for asking your professor for a recommendation

Cyber Times Navigator
A very well-organized set of online research tools used by reporters at the New York Times.   Highly recommended.

MindTools.com
Improve your time management skills, memory, study skills, stress reduction, and many more. 

Merriam-Webster dictionary & thesaurus

College of Business Undergraduate Advising

UNLV student information page
Your portal to virtually all online UNLV resources

SouthWestern's Economics Applications
Resources for econ students, including the excellent
EconDebate Online - a tool for researching current issues in many branches of economics and policy-making

 

Economics-related sites

Resources for Economists on the Internet
Highly regarded, very well-organized, comprehensive list with hyperlinks.

The Dismal Scientist
Learn what’s going on in the economy, useful for research papers

UNLV's Center for Business and Economic Research
Info on the local economy, lots of useful links, and much, much more!

History of Economic Thought page, by the Econ Dept at the New School for Social Research
Descriptions of the schools of thought and important figures in each.  Links to other history of thought resources.

National Bureau of Economic Research Homepage
This organization has top economic researchers doing high-quality work in most areas of economics.  Searchable index of NBER working papers. 

List of Economics Journals
An alphabetical listing - with links, of course - to the MANY economics journals that maintain a presence on the Web.  Many of these journals let you download articles, or at least see abstracts and tables of contents.  Compliments of WebEc.

Nouriel Roubini’s Macro Policy Debates
Once a very useful set of resources on topical issues, Dr. Roubini of NYU has not updated this site in a few years.

Job Openings for Economists
The "help wanted ads" for economists.  Most require an advanced degree.

 

Government, international, and non-governmental agencies

How to contact your elected officials (local, state, and U.S.)

The Congressional Budget Office
Lots of policy research.  The CBO is seen as non-partisan and relatively politically unbiased.  

The U.S. Social Security Administration

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

CATO Institute

World Trade Organization
Global economic savior, or agent of Satan?  You decide.

World Bank

A nice set of links from UNLV’s Department of Environmental Studies

 

Data

Overview of the Economy, Bureau of Economic Analysis
On one handy page, the BEA lists its latest releases on U.S. and state GDP and income. 

FRED database (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)
All kinds of U.S. economic data.  Easy to use.  Excellent. 

Quick links to many economic indicators from Macroeconomic Advisers

DataBasics
This webpage by the Dallas Federal Reserve contains helpful information on how to work with data, such as:  indexing data to a common starting point, annualizing data, correcting data for the effects of inflation.  Also, the left-hand side of the screen contains links to different kinds of economic data. 

Statistical Abstract of the United States

Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce
Data on the U.S. National Income Accounts (Y, C, I, G, NX) and some others.  Contains a link to the Survey of Current Business, another good source of data and info.

Flow of Funds Accounts of the U.S., Federal Reserve Statistical Release Z.1
Data on the money supply and tons of other assets.

Business Cycle Indicators (including Index of Leading Economic Indicators), The Conference Board

Economic Report of the President and its data appendix

Current Population Survey (IPUMS-CPS)
IPUMS-CPS is an integrated set of data from 45 years (1962-2006) of the March Current Population Survey (CPS).  The CPS is a monthly U.S. household survey conducted jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Initiated in the 1940s in the wake of the Great Depression, the survey was designed to measure unemployment.  A battery of labor force and demographic questions, known as the "basic monthly survey," is asked every month.  Over time, supplemental inquiries on special topics have been added for particular months.  Among these supplemental surveys, the March Annual Demographic File and Income Supplement (hereafter referred to as the March CPS) is the most widely used by social scientists and policymakers, and it provides the data for IPUMS-CPS.  To make cross-time comparisons using the March CPS data more feasible, variables in IPUMS-CPS are coded identically or "harmonized" for 1962 to 2006. IPUMS-CPS also facilitates the study of long-term change by providing detailed documentation covering comparability issues for each variable and an interactive data extraction system.

The Gallup Poll

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Data on inflation (CPI), unemployment, wages, productivity, and many others.

Budget of the U.S. Federal Government

DataWeb/DataFerrett
A system providing online access to many interesting databases, organized by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Center for Disease Control. 

Panel Study of Income Dynamics
The PSID is a longitudinal survey of a representative sample of US individuals and the families in which they reside. It has been ongoing since 1968.  PSID data can be used for cross-sectional, longitudinal, and intergenerational analysis and for studying both individuals and families.  I have not used PSID data, but people who have tell me that using it is difficult and time-consuming. 

International Trade Administration

The CIA World FactBook
An encyclopedic collection of information about virtually every country on the planet.

OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Statistics

The Interactive Currency Table
Find out exchange rates for today or some past day of your choice.

Penn World Tables
Data by country on many macroeconomic variables, adjusted to be comparable across countries

NBER datasets
The National Bureau of Economic Research is where top economists conduct and publish cutting-edge research.  The most important datasets used in this research are available on the web.

Transit Statistics from the American Public Transportation Association

 

Especially for teachers

EcEdWeb resources for teaching economics

The Teaching Economist
Online newsletters, teaching tips, articles put together by Dr. William McEachern

The Teaching and Learning Center, UNLV

MERLOT,  and the Economics section of MERLOT
Teaching tips, classroom activities, other information for instructors by instructors. 

 

Blogs

Greg Mankiw's blog
Commentary and analysis of today's pressing economic issues, like immigration, the trade deficit, the minimum wage, and many, many others.  Mankiw is the author of several highly-regarded, top-selling textbooks and recently served a two-year term as Chair of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisors. 

The Becker-Posner blog
Gary Becker is a Nobel Prize winning economist.  Richard Posner is one of the country's top law and economics scholars.  Both are on the faculty at the University of Chicago.  They provide strong, sound analysis of topical issues, though with a clear free-market orientation. 

The Freakonomics blog
Needs no introduction if you've read the book.   If you haven't read Freakonomics, I highly recommend it.   The Freakonomics guys (or "Freakonomists") write articles for the New York Times Magazine on occasion.  The articles are generally very good, comparable in quality (though not in depth) to the book.   Click here to access a collection of these articles and supporting materials (such as links to references cited in the articles).

 

Miscellaneous

Kelley Blue Book
Essential if you’re shopping for or selling a car, truck, or SUV

Reviews of current movies from Rotten Tomatoes

CNET.com
Very useful site, reviews computer gear and gadgets

iLounge.com
Essential site for iPod users and people shopping for iPods.  They provide very detailed reviews of all iPod models, plus 100s of accessories (cases, car adapters, speakers, you name it).  

WebMD
Lots of information about medical and health topics.  Searchable. 

Top-grossing movies of all time
adjusted for inflation
NOT adjusted for inflation