Economics

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HB  Economic Theory & Demography

HC  Economic History

HD  Industry & Labor

HE  Transportation & Communication

HF  Commerce

HG  Finance

Money in Hands” by 401(K) 2012, via Flickr. CC BY 2.0.

Reference Books

The Value of a Dollar: Records the actual prices of thousands of items that consumers purchased, along with facts about investment options and income opportunities.

• Prices and incomes in the United States, 1860-2014 HB 235 .U6V342 2014
• Colonial era to the Civil War, 1600-1865   HB 235 .U6V34 2005

Our research databases are full of full-text articles from a wide-variety of scholarly, trade and popular press materials.

Recommended Journals

Economic eBooks

Wealth of Nations
The classic by Adam Smith.  Remains one of the most important books ever written in the field, examining economic practices at the beginning of the Industrial Age.

Deciphering Economics : Timely Topics Explained
This reference guide introduces and applies the basic economic concepts and principles, analyzes economic choices and decisions, examines competing theories, traces historical trends and movements, and explains the operation of the U.S. and global economy.

Basic Economics : A Common Sense Guide to the Economy
An introduction to economics, learning economics should be as uncomplicated as it is informative.

Additional Recommended eBooks:

The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility
Compiled by the Institute for Corporate Cultural Affairs (the ICCA). The entries, from AA 1000 Series of Standards on Accountability to Zen, have been written by leading experts, leading global thinkers and CSR practitioners.

A Financial History of Modern U.S. Corporate Scandals from Enron to Reform
New reference for students, faculty, and professionals of American corporate governance, modern financial history, and securities law begins with an examination of the collapse of the Enron Corporation and other financial scandals that arose in the wake of the market downturn of 2000. Jerry W. Markham, author of the award-winning Financial History of the United States and former SEC counsel, provides context and analysis to the modern era of corporate corruption.

Library of Economics and Liberty
This library is “dedicated to advancing the study of economics, markets, and liberty.” As such, they offer books, the “Concise Encyclopedia of Economics,” various articles and columns, and special topics. All material is freely available, searchable, and proofread. Many classic books are here, including such authors as Benthan, Hume, Knight, Malthus, Marshall, Mill, Ricardo, Say, and Smith, as well as more recent works, such as the collected works of James Buchanan. The books are in a format particularly suited for the Internet.

Encyclopedia of Economic and Business History (EH.net): Designed to provide students and laymen with high quality reference articles in the field. Articles for the Online Encyclopedia are written by experts, screened by a group of authorities, and carefully edited. Owned and operated by the Economic History Association.

The History of Economic Thought and Critical Perspectives on Economics
This New School for Social Research web site focuses on economic theories from ancient times to contemporary issues and provides alphabetical listings of economists, discussions of the various schools of thought, etc .

Very Big Blogs

Econ News in Washington State

Learn Economic Basics Online

International Economics & Trade

• World Trade Organization
  The World Trade Organization provides quick access to specialized international topics such as: the goods & services industry, intellectual property, government procurement, environmental policy, etc.
• Economist.com Country Briefings
  The Economist Intelligence Unit has developed detailed overviews of some 60 major nations, including economic forecasts, political and economic structure, demographic profiles, data on gross domestic product, etc.
• FT.Com: Special Reports
  The British publication, Financial Times, releases surveys on specific foreign countries, world financial markets and trade, geopolitics, global industries, etc.
• IISD
  The International Institute for Sustainable Development is a non-governmental Canadian institute dedicated to distributing current research on developing a sustainable world-wide economy.
• IMF – International Monetary Fund
  With a goal of promoting international monetary cooperation and stability, the 182 member country International Monetary Fund provides detailed statistics and analyses.
• Index of Economic Freedom
  A joint venture of The Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation, this web site surveys some 161 countries and analyzes categories including trade and monetary policy, banking and finance, foreign investment, wages and prices, etc.
• The International Political Economy Network
  Hosted by Indiana University, this source details ongoing research and academic scholarship for those interested in the functioning of the global economy.
• International Trade Administration
  A division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the ITA includes basic international trade information, including import/export data by country, region, and product.
• OECD Statistics Portal
  With an emphasis on the role of member countries, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development publishes statistical data that complements the information published by other international agencies and the federal government.
• The World Bank
  This site focuses on the World Bank’s efforts to fight world poverty “by providing resources, sharing knowledge, building capacity, and forging partnerships in the public and private sectors.”

United States 

• Adam Smith Institute
• Economics – Brookings Institute
• Economics – Center for American Progress
• Economics – Council on Foreign Relations
• Economics – RAND
• Economy & Taxes – The Urban Institute
• Economy – The Heritage Foundation
• Economy news – Wsj.com
• National Buereau of Economic Research (NBER)

Founded in 1920, dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, and business professionals.

• Peterson Institute for International Economics
• Policy Studies: Economics – AEI
• Working Group on Economic Policy – Hoover Institute

International

• International Economics – Chatham House
• International Economics & Development – Cato Institute
• Kiel Institute for the World Economy
• Bruegel 

International Monetary Fund

• IMF Finances
• IMF Publications
• IMF Staff Papers Archive

ALFRED (Archival Federal Reserve Economic Data)
Retrieve vintage versions of economic data that were available on specific dates in history.

Economic Indicators
The U. S. Census Bureau has compiled a quick summary of the various types of national economic statistics and indicators.

EconData
University of Maryland INFORUM web site that provides access to thousands of historical economic data publications and series published by the federal government.

EPI Datazone
Issuing some 50 different labor market time series, the Economic Policy Institute [ EPI ] has compiled a “user-friendly” source for various statistical data sets on U.S. income, earnings, prices, etc.

FRED II – Federal Reserve Economic Data
Maintained by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED II provides files that can easily be converted to Excel spreadsheets on interest rates, monetary statistics, consumer and producer price indexes, gross domestic products, etc.

National Bureau of Economic Research
With a goal of “promoting a greater understanding of how the economy works,” the nonprofit National Bureau of Economic Research accesses ongoing university research projects and contains an invaluable listing of web links.

U. S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
This WWW database publishes the latest information and statistical reports released by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s BEA.

GDP (Bureau of Economic Analysis)

U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
As the primary federal agency for compiling labor economics and business data, the BLS web site provides accurate, up-to-date statistical analyses of the U.S. economy.

CPI (Consumer Price Indices)
Data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services

PPI
Measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output

U. S. Census Bureau Business & Industry
This U.S. Bureau of the Census site includes the latest business, demographic and economic statistical reports released by the agency, and provides links to other major data series such as the: