Book - Probability and Statistics - Chapter 1 - Data Sources

1.2. Data Sources

You can find a lot of interesting things in Internet site. I don´t even dare to suggest anywhere to look, as the list grows exponentially daily. Google itself has an abundance of data, and quite recently (in 2009) they published a very interesting applied working paper called “Predicting the Present with Google Trends“ (the article is available at http://ec.europa.eu/bepa/pdf/seminars/google_predicting_the_present.pdf and a presentation at http://www.frbsf.org/economics/conferences/1103/Varian-part_1.pdf). More than ever, you should explore, investigate, snoop around, and be curious!

You can find data quite easily at price comparison sites, and I bet you also use them quite often!

If you are an economist, there are wonderful databases provided by several US government agencies, and also multilateral and international agencies and institutions. You can check my blog or website for some links, but as I said before, I´m kind of discouraged about publishing links, as they evolve much faster than I can keep up with them. Just to get the conversation flowing, check the homepages of the St. Louis Fed and the Department of Energy – you’ll get LOTS of good data on these sites!

Most of the time, over the course of your professional life, you’ll be analyzing data obtained in your own company. This is a growing trend in companies of all sizes, as the collection and maintenance of data in companies becomes cheaper.

This is also a consequence of a change in manager’s mindsets, as businesspeople recognize the importance of the data stored within the company. These data are useful for: estimating the demand for current and new products, predicting and controlling inventories, payment flows and financing. In short, companies themselves often contain a substantial amount of critical data whose analysis helps increase their competitiveness (and sometimes even ensures their survival).

Some public sites with free economic information which I consider interesting (but the list is very personal) are:

Ipeadata (Brazilian Economic data):

BCB (Brazil´s Central Bank): www.bcb.gov.br

IBGE (Brazil’s Census Bureau): www.ibge.gov.br

St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank (USA):  http://www.stlouisfed.org/

Dept. of Energy (USA): http://www.eia.gov/

U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/

Yahoofinance - for free historical stock quotes: www.yahoofinance.com

Google Finance: http://www.google.com/finance

New links

I have update the "interesting links" section today. They are mostly economics blogs, and well worth taking a look at.

If you don´t have much time, just randomly go through the list and I´m sure you´ll find something interesting.

I also posted two links from some of these blogs (actually, one of them is from Wired) which I thought were very interesting.

Last, but not least, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Implications of the Euro crisis for the US economy

NYT: Blogs - Economix - The Euro Zone Crisi

How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities. By John Cassidy

A wonderful book, one of the best I read in a long time (at least in this past year).

Don´t be fooled by the title, the author goes a long way before explaining the 2008 subprime crisis. The book is a very complete (but accessible) introduction to the history of economics.

Definitely, a "must read".

It was released in 2009, so you might think it is outdated. Not at all, just look around and see the aftermath of the 2008 crisis all over the world.

Links to two good reviews follow.

http://www.economist.com/node/14843529

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/6719474/How-Markets-Fail-the-Logic-of-Economic-Calamities-by-John-Cassidy-review.html

Time Magazine´s List - the best 25 financial blogs

I got the list through a post on the Freakonomics blog (of course it is one of the top 25).

The link with the top blogs is:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2057116_2057343,00.html

I haven't checked them out, but I´m sure I´ll have a lot to talk about once I dig into them.

Some of the top 25 are pretty well-known:

Freakonomics: http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/

Krugman's blog - The Conscience of a Liberal: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/

CalculatedRisk - http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/

Below is a sample of my very own humble selection of favorites in the Econ/Finance section.....

The Economist magazine - definitely you can´t leave home without it .... www.economist.com

Project Syndicate - famous writers, wonderful articles, a must read! http://www.project-syndicate.org/

Nouriel Roubini´s page: http://www.roubini.com/

Prof. Brad DeLong's Website (Economics) : http://econ161.berkeley.edu/

Federal Reserve Economics Data (FRED) - Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis - http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/

Carpe Diem - Prof. Mark J. Perry's Blog (Economics) - http://mjperry.blogspot.com/

Seeking Alpha (Investment ideas) - http://seekingalpha.com/

Alea Jacta Est (Economics blog) - http://www.aleablog.com/

Abnormal Returns (Investments) - http://abnormalreturns.com/

the first one....

What is this blog for?
The idea is to complement my site in a more dynamic (and I grant it, disorganized) format.

The primary objective is to share interesting links, posts and ideas.

Obviously, you may not agree with my definition of "interesting", but here you´ll probably see comments and links on Finance, Economics, Computers, Statistics and some things on the lighter and brighter side.

Hope you enjoy.