Social Sciences Computer Center

 Web Resources For Introductory Economics

Business Cycles

1. National Bureau of Economic Research
Founded in 1920, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of how the economy works. NBER has a Business Cycles Dating Committee that decides on start and end dates of business cycles.
One interesting page here is the following one:
http://www.nber.org/cycles.html
Here you will find duration of all business cycles since 1857.

2. Conference Board
You can go to the Conference Board Website to get recent information on Global Business Cycle Indicators including Economic Indicator for the United States.

3. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Under “National”: You can click on Gross Domestic Product.  You can see here the values of GDP over the years  and also the composition of GDP. by clicking on the Interactive NIPA Tables in the following page: http://www.bea.gov/bea/dn/nipaweb/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=5&FirstYear=2005&LastYear=2006&Freq=QtrUnder “International”: See details on Balance of Payments Data by clicking Balance of Payments.

4. Hiding in the Shadows: The Growth of the Underground Economy
Sometimes a lot of economic activity takes place illegally or "underground." As a result income from these activates are not included in the formal GDP figures. This article explores the topic of "underground economy".

Inflation, Unemployment and Consumer Price Index

Bureau of Labor Statistics
In this site you can quickly get to glance at (as well as get a detailed view of) the recent data on consumer price index (CPI), producers price index (PPI), unemployment rate and data on productivity changes.

In order to find quick definitions of CPI or PPI, what is included in CPI you can go to the FAQ's list at http://stats.bls.gov/dolfaq/blsfaqtoc.htm

Click here to see data on wage-earners paid hourly rates with earnings at or below the prevailing Federal minimum wage: http://stats.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat45.pdf

To find the minimum wages in different states click here.

Economic Growth and Development

1. Data from Worldbank
You can find in this website GDP figures and figures on some other economic indicators for various countries
 

2. Human Development Report from United Nations
"Human development is about much more than the rise or fall of national incomes. It is about creating an environment in which people can develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and interests. People are the real wealth of nations. Development is thus about expanding the choices people have to lead lives that they value. And it is thus about much more than economic growth, which is only a means —if a very important one —of enlarging people ’s choices" (source: UN - http://hdr.undp.org/hd/)

HDR reports various indicators of human development in different countries of the world. The above link is taking you to the indicator page.

If you want to explore some animated data on Human development click on the link below: http://hdr.undp.org/statistics/data/animation.cfm

3. Lucas on Growth, Poverty and Business Cycle
The Nobel Laureate Robert Lucas talks about poverty and growth in this lively and very simple to follow discussion.

Monetary Economics

1. Federal Reserve Education - Fed101
In this site on Federal Reserve, you can read about the history of the Fed, about monetary policy that fed peruses and about the supervisory role of the Fed.

2. Data on Monetary Aggregates
Here you can graphs on monetary aggregates M1, M2

3. The Fed Today - Video
Watch this short video to get a quick overview on the activities of the Fed.