Economics Resources

Economics, Business and Urban Issues
[Dewey numbers: 330s; 650s; 307.76]

Economics

Urban Issues

Economics [330s]

Marin Countywide Plan - http://www.future-marin.org/cwpdocs/CWPTrendsandIssuesReportJanuarymeeting.pdf: This PDF-formatted "Draft Trends and Issues Report" published in January 2002 is the latest of many steps to a comprehensive planning document for Marin County. Since the entire report is 110 pages long be sure to select only those pages you want to print before hitting the print button! Part of: Countywide Plan Update Web site.
Ceres Project: Marin County General Plan - http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/doc_query?where-author=Marin&rel-author=like&where-doc_type=generalplan&rel-doc_type=equals&special=ceres&max=15
Marin County California: Demographics - http://www.marin.org/demog/index.cfm: This page provides links to data about the population of Marin County. Links are provided to: Demographics of Marin Cities & Places compiled from the 2000 census; Data from the State of California: crime indexes, school data, etc.; Report Card for the North Bay - 1999; Ongoing and Emerging Trends in Marin with a focus on Welfare Reform; Housing & Population January, 1998; Marin County Community Assessment; Marin Profile (1997): a survey of economic and social indicators; and Healthy Marin Partnership Collaborative Community Assessment: health, social and economic indicators report.
Glossary for a Course in Basic Economics - http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reak/glosslist.htm#General: Professor emeritus Ken Rea developed this online list of economic terms to help students in a course he taught through the University of Toronto (Canada) Another glossary, from publisher W.W. Norton, will be found at http://www.wwnorton.com/college/econ/stiglitz/gloss.htm. And still another list of economics terms, from Biz/ed.com, a British Web site, can be found at http://www.bized.ac.uk/stafsup/options/aec/glos.htm.
Consumer Reports Online: Unbiased reports and information about products and services, prepared by the Consumers' Union. "You'll find Consumer Reports advice, ratings and recommendations, based on [their] independent testing of consumer products and services. You'll find no advertising on this site." In order to have access to the full database of reviews you'll need to subscribe.
The Better Business Bureau: "The Better Business Bureau provides instant access to business and consumer alerts as well as helpful resources. Plus, you can file a complaint online and more." Includes the latest consumer warnings and other news from the BBB, consumer buying guides and business publications, and related information.
The Street.com - http://www.thestreet.com: "TheStreet.com Network provides you, individual and professional investors, with timely, to-the-point financial news and analysis you can use to succeed in today's markets. Updated before, during and after the bell by the largest independent financial newsroom on the web, our stories put you on the trading floor with some of the best financial minds in the business."
Economic Democracy Information Network: "This is the Economic Democracy Information Network (EDIN), a project dedicated to expanding the voice of community organizations on the Information Superhighway. The EDIN Project is sponsored by UC-Berkeley's Center for Community Economic Research (CCER)." Includes links to: The economy, Defense conversion and peace resources, Labor issues, Race and racism, Gender and sexuality, Environment, Trade and the international economy, Human rights & civil liberties, Housing, health & poverty, Education and youth issues, International info & organizing, Socialist and Left politics, Elections and political party info, Right-wing politics, Government: US & the world, Computers & information activism, and Arts, culture and humor.
Recent Economic Reports of the President: The annual Economic Report of the President includes current and foreseeable trends and annual numerical goals on topics such as employment, unemployment, production, real income and the labor force. You can search each report (from 1996 on) by keyword. Or at the bottom of the page you can click on the Table of Contents of a particular report to go to a detailed list of what's in each report.
The Dismal Scientist: A wonderful collection of easily understood information about economics, including definitions and data. A superb starting place for economics research, especially for those who want to become familiar with the basic terms and concepts of economics. This site includes a Dictionary of Economic Terms where the terminology of the science of economics is explained in a very readable and understandable format.
The National Budget Simulation: This simple simulation should give you a better feel of the trade-offs which citizens and policy makers will need to make to balance the budget. This simulation asks you to cut the 1995 fiscal deficit in order to achieve a balanced budget. In order to make the choices we face in the budget clearer, we assume that you make the cuts all in one year. Use the pop-up menus to increase or decrease as many of the budget items as you'd like. When you're finished, click the button at the end of the document. There are two versions of this program. The longer version gives more options.
Wall Street Research Net: An amazing collection of links and searchers related to stocks, bonds and economics. A commercial site, but most of the data appears to be free, including stock market data.
Holt Stock Report: An extremely useful and comprehensive daily summary of data related to stock exchanges, as well as other useful economic data.
The New York Stock Exchange: If you enjoy watching the stock ticker banner in action this is the place to go. This Web site offers not only access to the NYSE but also investment education.
NASDAQ: One of the major trading centers for stocks. Find out information about the stocks that are traded here and on the American and New York Stock Exchanges. Includes prices, graphs and charts of stock activity, plus other vital stock market data.
Hoover's Online: A place to find out information about companies including stocks, reports, industry snapshots, etc. Some services are available only to commercial customers but much is available to the general public.
CNNfn: This is the Web site of the Cable News Network Financial Network. Has links to much financial information including current stock market statistics.
EduStock: "Edustock is an educational web page designed to teach young and old what the stock market is, and how it can work for them." It includes tutorials on the stock market and how to pick good stocks.
Findings from Education and the Economy: An Indicators Report: "Some attribute the loss of the nation's productivity advantage to what they claim is the limited ability of the U.S. educational system to provide students with the skills necessary to succeed in today's labor market. However, factors other than education also affect productivity, and these must be considered when comparing productivity, trends across countries." This document from the National Center for Educational Statistics does so.
Companies and Organizations: This page includes information on both for-profit and not-for-profit companies and organizations, primarily in the U.S. but with strong emphasis on organizations world-wide. (University of Kansas Business School)
International Business Resources on the WWW: Links to information about businesses around the world. A great place to start researching international companies. (Michigan State University Center for International Business Education and Research)
Stockmaster: This site allows you to find data on stocks. Click on a letter to view company names that start with that letter. Click on a company name below to view its current stock quote and one year chart.
EDGAR Database of Corporate Information: "EDGAR, the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system, performs automated collection, validation, indexing, acceptance, and forwarding of submissions by companies and others who are required by law to file forms with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)."
The Annual Reports Library: "Since it's founding in 1983, The Annual Reports Library [in San Francisco] has built a collection of over 1.45 million original reports (and proxies) from corporations, foundations, banks, mutual funds and public institutions." Annual reports are one of the main ways companies share information about what and how they are doing.
Statistical Resources on the Web - http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html: This site offers a well organized collection of statistical data. Grouped by major subject area: Agriculture, Business and Industry, Comprehensive Subjects, Consumers, Cost-of-Living, Demographics, Economics, Education, Energy, Environment, Finance, Foreign Government Data Sources, Foreign/International Economics, Foreign Trade, Government Finances, Health, Housing, Labor, Military Politics, Science, Sociology, Tourism, Transportation, and Weather. (Univ. of Mich. Documents Center)
Yahoo! Business and Economy: Yahoo's links to the world of business. Includes links to Business libraries, Business opportunities, Business schools, Chats and forums, Classifieds, Companies, Consortia, Consumer advocacy and information, Consumer incentive programs, Conventions and conferences, Cooperatives, Economics (see below), Education, Electronic commerce, Employment and work, Ethics and responsibility, Finance and investment, Free stuff, Global economy, History, Intellectual property, Labor, Law, Magazines, Management science, Marketing and advertising, News and media, Organizations, Quality standards, Real estate, Small business information, Statistics and indicators, Taxes, Television, Trade, and Transportation.
Yahoo! Economics: Yahoo's links to all sites economic. Includes links to Accounting and auditing, Agricultural economics, Calendars, Central banks, Commentaries, Conferences, Currency, Economic policies and regulations, Economists, Education, Environmental economics, Finance, Finance and investment, Game theory, Government, History, Institutes, Journals, Libraries, Management science, Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, Organizations, Papers, Political economy, Poverty, Statistics and indicators, and Utilitarianism.
Global Business (About.com): Learn all "about" the global economy from this Web directory. Includes links to: Annual Reports, Antitrust, Business Dictionaries, Company Directories, Company Disclosures, Company Profiles, Country Resources, Currencies, Economic Analysis, Etiquette, Export Assistance, Export/Import Software, Export/Import Training, Free Trade, How to Export, Intellectual Property, Markets & Exchanges, M&A, News: Magazines, News: Online, News: Regional, Think Tanks, Top Companies, Trade Leads, Trade Policy, Trade Regulations, Trade Shows, and Venture Capital.
U.S. Mint: This government agency is in charge of producing the coinage we use.
Patent Issues: Lots of information related to patents and getting patents.
Economic Policy: Articles from Idea Central, the virtual magazine of the electronic policy network. Most of the articles are on the economics of Internet commerce.
World Food Issues Resources on the Web: This Website includes just some of the sites around the world containing information on hunger, population studies and food issues. Use these as starting points for your research in these issues.
Fed 101- http://www.kc.frb.org/fed101/: The Federal Reserve, the nation's central bank, has put together a Web site which explores the banking system of the U.S. Links include: History - important events before and after the Federal Reserve was formed; Banking Supervision - the Federal Reserve as a bank regulator; Structure - the organization of the Federal Reserve including the FOMC, Board of Governors and Advisory Councils; Financial Services - The products and services provided to your bank and the Treasury; and Monetary Policy - how the Federal Reserve affects interest rates. There is also a page where you can quiz yourself on Federal Reserve facts.

Urban Issues

City & County Reports and Analysis: Choose from 11 different types of geographies (cities, states, regions, ZIP codes, etc.) and 11 different kinds of reports on various qualities of the area selected. (Easy Analytic Software, Inc.).
Salary Calculator: This online "calculator" will allow you to calculate how much salary you would need in order to equal that of another city, even in other countries. From Homefair.com, an online real estate company. There is much more information on the whole issue of relocating at this useful site.
Cost-of-Living Calculator: This site enables you calculate the cost of living by using custom variables (e.g. all items, food, medical care) and the entire U.S. or one of twenty regions/cities, entering a dollar amount for a beginning year and obtaining its value in another year. Beginning years vary but range from 1913 to 1976. For San Francisco Bay Area figures click here.
State, Metropolitan Areas and County Profiles: Basic statistics on people in cities and regions of the U.S. Just click on a state, then narrow your search down to the area you want data about. (U.S. Census Bureau)
Index of Watershed Indicators

Watersheds are those land areas bounded by ridge lines that catch rain and snow, and drain to specific marshes, streams, rivers, lakes, or to groundwater. This Index, maintained by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, organizes and presents aquatic resource information on a watershed basis. The area which includes Redwood High School is the San Pablo Bay Watershed. Find companies that dispose of toxic waste in Marin County and nationally from these links.
County and City Data Books: This resource provides WWW access to the electronic versions of the 1988 and 1994 County and City Data Books. You will need to check some boxes to get the data for the area you are looking for. First specify data desired, and ask for only California data, and submit. Then specify the city. (Geospatial and Statistical Data Center. University of Virginia)
Marin County Greenbelt Assessment: The Greenbelt Alliance, a Bay Area land conservation organization, assesses how well we are preserving our "greenbelts," land which is set aside from development.
The Price of Mobility: Uncovering the hidden costs of transportation: covers many factors related to transportation as it affects the environment and humans. Includes topics such as: energy, parking, congestion, air pollution, urban sprawl, etc. From Solstice, an Internet site which promotes sustainability and renewable energy issues.
Urban Sprawl: A series of six articles from the Twin Cities (Minnesota) Pioneer Press: "With crime and taxes topping citizen concerns, few feel urgent about urban sprawl. But decisions being made now about sprawl are likely to affect those issues, and many more, in major ways."