Edward J. Lopez
Back to homepage

TEACHING PAGE
Updated 09/14/2009

Office Hours: Thursdays 9:00-10:00 and 2:00-3:00, Fridays 11:00-12:00

Econ 2A Macroeconomics Principles Syllabus and Aplia instructions

Course Blog for Econ 1A Macroeconomics Principles

Course Blog for Econ 141 Law and Economics

Scholarships, Internships, Free Summer Seminars, and More!

The Institute for Humane Studies

Staying Current on Economic Conditions [please email me if a link is broken]

New data every day
Briefing.com's calendar of economic data

Select Economic Data
GDP per capita country rankings by Wikipedia -- uses Purchasing Power Parity to control for cost of living -- includes IMF, WB, and CIA rankings
GDP (real) per capita growth rankings by Wikipedia -- lists fastest and slowest in the growth of average living standards

News
The Economist great "outside" view of American conditions and world events, some by subscription only
Investor's Business Daily news and analysis of markets and politics
The Wall Street Journal comprehensive, some by subscription only
The Washington Post generally more focused on political angles
The New York Times all the news that fits
Yahoo! economic news of the day
MarketWatch
Chronicle of Higher Education 

Web
Slate.com filled with the best writers on the web
dismalscientist.com a wealth of current information, much by subscription only
www.fool.com the ever savvy boys from Motley Fool

Energy
Energy Information Administration (lots of up-to-date stuff)
Monthly Natural Gas Prices (historical and forecasted from energyshop.com)
World Crude Oil Prices (historical from 1861 from BP)
Gasoline Prices in the U.S. (from Energy Information Agency)
Gasoline Prices Around the World (from CNN/Money, might be old data)
A Primer on Gasoline Prices (Energy Information Agency)
A Primer on Crude Oil Prices (WTRG Economics)

Economics Blogs
Division of Labour by several economists (including me!)
Marginal Revolution by GMU economists Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok
The Austrian Economists by Peter Boettke and gang
EconLog by Arnold Kling, Bryan Caplan and David Henderson
Cafe Hayek by GMU economists Russell Roberts and Don Boudreaux
The Perfect Substitute by several economists
The Knowledge Problem by Lynne Kiesling and Michael Giberson
The Atlantic Business including Megan McArdle
Greg Mankiw's blog
The Economist's Forum by the Financial Times
Brad deLong if you can take it

Law Blogs
The Volokh Conspiracy by lots of wicked smart lawyers
SCOTUS blog covering the U.S. Supreme Court
The Blog of Legal Times (BLT)
Counterfeit Chic on design piracy especially in fashion

Culture and Current Events Blogs
Dyanamist.com by Virginia Postrel
DeepGlamour.net by Virginia Postrel
The Daily Dish by Andrew Sullivan
Will Wilkinson's blog

Radio
www.marketplace.org three 10-minute morning broadcasts, one mid-day teaser, and one 30-minute evening program with in-depth commentary and analysis--all archived, all witty, but not all right

Government
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas great for southwest region, US-Mexico trade, NAFTA, and benefits of free trade and free markets in general
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland their Economic Trends is a great monthly specializing in current money&banking conditions as well as monetary policy
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis their National Economic Trends is a great monthly pub for macro conditions and fiscal policy
Bureau of Economic Analysis offers extensive current and historical data on the US macroeconomy
Burueau of Labor Statistics extensive menu of current data on prices, output, employment, etc. at various levels of aggregation--county/state/region, industry/occupation, etc.
National Bureau of Economics Research actually an N.G.O. consortium of economists, this is the official keeper of business cycle data
Congressional Budget Office and Office of Management and Budget lots of data on fiscal policy and the federal
The Treasury Department public information on taxes, spending and related stuff

Other
How the Stock Markets are Doing today
How Professor Lopez's portfolio is doing today
Current movie box office rankings and Global rankings
Current newspaper circulation rankings
Magazine and other media rankings (free registration required)
Best selling books
World coffee prices (International Coffee Organization)
FindLaw legal resources
Resources for Economists
Current shortages of vital organs

Tax Stuff

Tax Information and Analysis (some have data)

Executive Branch
Office of Management and Budget
U.S. Dept. of Treasury, Office of Tax Policy
Internal Revenue Service

Congressional Branch
Congressional Budget Office
Committee on Ways and Means
Joint Committee on Taxation
Joint Economic Committee
Senate Finance Committee

U.S. States
The Book of the States
National Association of State Budget Offices
National Conference of State Legislatures

Texas
Texas Labor Market Information
Texas Workforce Commisssion
Texas Public Policy Foundation

Non Profit Sector
National Academy of Science or link to
Tax Foundation
National Taxpayers Union
Tax Policy Center (Urban Institute and Brookings Institution)
Heritage Foundation (tax page)
National Center for Policy Analysis (tax page)
Office of Tax Policy Research (U-Michigan)

Tax Data

World Tax Database (OTPR, U-Michigan)
PSID (Panel Study on Income Dynamics)
Combined State and Federal Marginal Tax Rates
OECD go to Topics then Taxation
World Development Indicators (World Bank)


General Data, some of which is tax-related
Census Bureau, State and Local Government Finance Data---Quarterly Summaries
Statistical Abstract of the U.S.
State and Metro Area Data Book
U.S. Counties Data Book
County and City Data Book
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Current Population Survey
ICPSR (Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research)
Census Bureau
BEA (Bureau of Economic Analysis)
NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) or go right to their data page

Other Data Portals with Lots of Links
Resources for Economists
www.economagic.com
Bureau of Labor Statistics
NBER data links