Web Links

International Monetary Fund
The IMF is an international institution which strives for economic cooperation by maintaining a stable system of buying and selling currencies between countries. You may have heard of some of the high-profile ‘reform packages' which are sometimes needed if one member has trouble meeting financial obligations to other members. There is a wide range of reports, data, current developments, and other international economic information available.
http://www.imf.org

The World Bank
This is the official site for the World Bank. It offers the full range of international economic data resources. Along with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank is one of the major players in international political economy.
http://www.worldbank.org/

Bureau of Labor Statistics
This is the official site for some of the most important economic variables in the U.S. In the "Most Requested Series" area, you can access past and current reports concerning inflation, unemployment, wage-levels, and productivity. In the "Economy at a Glance" area, you can follow these and other key economic variables as they change month to month. Wall Street and other investors are often following these reports quite closely; since economic variables are becoming more important in politics, you should become familiar with these reports as well.
http://stats.bls.gov/

Congressional Budget Office
The CBO is the well-respected economic analysis office for Congress (their counterpart in the Executive Branch is the Office of Management and Budget, or OMB). Here you can find the text of selected reports on the federal budget, budget issues, and important five-year economic projections.
http://www.cbo.gov/

U.S. Census Bureau
This is the major source for official social, demographic, and economic information from the U.S. government. A wide range of statistics are available (though it is advised to casually browse elsewhere – you need to know what you are looking for here). However, everyone should take a look at the "Pop Clocks" (under the heading titled ‘current population'). You will see population estimates for the U.S. and the entire world, updated every few minutes!
http://www.census.gov/

Federal Reserve Bank
This site is for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, which is one of twelve regional Reserve Banks across the country that compose the United States' central bank. Each of the regional federal reserve banks has its own Web-site (all of which are accessible from this site), each of which offers economic information, reports, analysis, etc. Since monetary policy is becoming such a dominant factor in political economy, it is important that you understand the Fed's role.Federal Reserve Bank.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/

Country Reports on Economic Policy and Trade, maintained by the U.S. State Department
This is one of the more useful annual reports which is available from the State Department Web-site. Here you can select any region, and any country, and then get an easy-to-read table displaying the key economic statistical indicators for the past three years. Since there are reports on-line back to 1993, you can quickly compile the key economic variables for any country.
http://www.state.gov/e/eb/rls/rpts/eptp/2001/

Foreign Trade Statistics, maintained by the U. S. Census Bureau
This is the official Web-site for most U. S. international economic statistics. The level of detail can be intimidating – for example, there are commodity-level data on trade between the U.S. and other nations. The use of codes can also be confusing, but the trouble is worth it if your research requires current international economic statistics.
http://www.census.gov/ftp/pub/foreign-trade/www

Central Banking Resource Center
This site has links to every major central bank and finance ministry around the world. This is, therefore, an excellent starting place for research on monetary policy in specific, or international economics more generally. The central banks are usually the publishers of the various official economic statistics. For example, in the U.S., the Federal Reserve Board (the Fed) publishes the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures. Here you can find similar statistics for any country. There are also links to current economic statistics and currency conversions, as well as financial news.
http://www.patriot.net/users/bernkopf

The Dismal Scientist
Economics has often been referred to as the ‘dismal science' (hence the name of this site). Partly this is because it is so easy to get lost in a sea of various economic statistics. However, if this sounds like fun to you, then be sure to take a look at this sight. The full range of economic reports are available here, as well as the latest ‘expectations' for the future. Be sure to get an economic profile of your local area by typing in your ZIP code. With easy to read reports, and calendars of upcoming indicators, this is one of the best economics sites on the internet.
http://www.dismal.com/

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