Computer seminar

Department of Economics

College of the Holy Cross

March 20, 1997

Contents:

A bad joke

Why have a home page?

First, A Bad Joke for Oscar season:

Click to:

SHOW ME THE MONEY!

Why Have a Home Page?

I use my home page mainly to do the following:

1. Post data I have gathered on the Web (or elsewhere) in Excel spreadsheet form for my students to use for analysis and on assignments. This is useful because although there is a lot of data available on the Web, it often exists in a format that is frustrating to put in a useable format. Not so frustrating to make it prohibitively difficult (especially with practice), but frustrating enough to cause (a) some students to give up on any assignment that requires downloading and using data or (b) the instructor to spend a lot of time in the lab or office hours instructing some students. Although learning how to download and manipulate data is a useful skill for students to learn, this learning-to-download process may get in the way of the learning the economics or statistical concept you are trying to illustrate with data. Thus, I like to post some data on my web page as Excel spreadsheets – a usable form. (Example: Consumption data)
2. Post Excel spreadsheets that give answers to assignments that require my students to use Excel. Some of my problem sets require the students to use Excel, and often students have difficulties setting up the spreadsheets properly. Students can access my home page and download the actual Excel spreadsheet that I completed as part of the answer key, and see the methods and functions I used to get the answers. Posting the sheets on the Web does protect the sheets from careless and mischievous students, because posted documents cannot be changed – students have to copy the files to their own disks, and edit the copies. Using a web page to post answers also has some advantages over using a "common network drive" because a network drive can only contain files, and not explanatory text, and a home page requires less start-up costs. (Example: Macro)
3. Post links for my students to use in particular classes. I often have my students go to web sites to gather data and other information for assignments. For instance, to do an exchange rate assignment, I have them go to the NY Fed to get the most current exchange rate; for an assignment on business cycles I have them go the Fed-St. Louis web site and look at graphs they have posted. To make sure the students get to the right site, I put a link on my page that sends them directly to the data. Again, this is at the expense of having my students find web sites on their own, but it insures computer ineptitude will not get in the way of completing the assignment. (Example: Money and Banking assignment to analyze interest rates)
4. Make my syllabus and other information available for students considering taking a class I teach. (Example: Monetary Theory)
In addition, others have used home pages in the following roles:
1. Post personal information for students (and others surfing the web) to explore.
2. Post any information, including notes, handouts, assignments, etc. for students who miss class or lose materials. Personally, I’m a little leery of the moral hazard problem this may cause, and the extra work it would require. In addition, some people have expressed concerns that such posted documents may be easily copied (and used) by others.

Top five Internet sources for basic macroeconomic information

1. The White House Economic Statistics Briefing Room

Provides many current economic indicators for the U. S. in user-friendly format. In particular, the site provides direct links to may graphs and tables that can be easily downloaded and printed out. Links to the agencies that report the statistics are also provided. For instance, you can go directly to the BEA's site where you can look at selections for the Survey of Current Business and other information.

2. Bank of America Economic and Financial Reports

Includes several valuable sections. One of the highlights of this site is the CPI section that breaks the CPI up into its components, and provides a table summarizing current and historical inflation rates. A "Weekly Economic Briefing" summarizes recent U. S. economic and financial data (complete with tables), and suggests (usually thoughtful) implications for data observations. A "Weekly International Economic Briefing" fulfills a similar role for international developments. The site also provides several special reports on various issues.

3. The Beige Book from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors

This provides a summary of financial, economic and business conditions at the national and Federal Reserve district level. The FOMC uses this information to decide monetary policy. It comes out a week or so before every FOMC meeting.

4. Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

Contains may useful publications: the monthly Economic Trends provides a good analysis of the state of various sectors of the economy; the almost bi-monthly Economic Commentary contains an article each month focusing on a current economic issue; other publications include a quarterly journal, working papers, and research on specific topics.

5. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

This is the one Fed site that contains all the macroeconomic data available. Most of it is contained in the "FRED" database. FRED data isn't formatted in a way that makes it too user friendly, but you can download it, load it in Excel, and make it user friendly. A limited set of good-looking data is found at the "National Economic Trends" site. This data is formatted in graphs and tables, and is available as "GIF" pictures and "Acrobat" files. The GIF pictures can be read by Netscape, printed out, and copied in to Word. Acrobat files require a special Acrobat reader program, which can be downloaded for free here. Acrobat files look print-quality while GIF files are not as high-quality (but still readable) (Example of GIF).

Last modified: March 20, 1997