Data for Macro

In this very first post of the blog, I would like to introduce a web app that I have been working on these last days. The app, Data for Macro, puts together some key macroeconomics series in a thematically structured way. This project has three main objectives.

First, the app aims to be an auxiliary tool for introductory and intermediate macroeconomics courses. On the app, students can explore data on gross domestic product, price indexes, unemployment, jobs, structural change, and the pandemic interactively and with an explanatory assistance. While data on these key macroeconomic themes can be found elsewhere, one needs to search for them individually and in some cases in a very time consuming way. So the app provides the key data in an easily accessible way that addresses students’ needs. While the app currently has data on the US economy only, some other advanced and developing economies will be added to offer a comparative perspective.

Second, the app will have country cases (or stories) in the future that explain important and interesting macroeconomic developments in different countries by using key macroeconomic concepts and data. Moreover, these country cases will feature non-mainstream analyses. This will both allow the interested instructors to access the fully developed auxiliary course resources that draw on non-mainstream analyses and give students a chance to analyze macroeconomic developments in non-mainstream frameworks.

Finally the app aims to be a useful resource for anyone who would like to learn about macroeconomics to make sense of economic changes.

This is a work in progress. Even as of now, there are parts that are planned to be on the app yet missing. It is my hope that those missing parts will be completed in the coming weeks and at least some of the previously mentioned country cases will be on the app in a few months.

If you have any suggestions about the app that you would like to share with me, you can email me here.