Finance, investment, tax, insurance & currency

This page was written by Christopher Spry.

I have started a guide to 'Managing personal finances with a PC, finance software and internet resources'.

• Currency converter, Oanda Inc. Canada.
• Universal currency converter and Personal Currency Assistant by XE.com.

UK

USA

The Economist has provided a 'hot list' of economist web sites on 13/03/1999. "[We] polled a sample of ten top economists and five humble journalists and came up with widely different answers. Still, there were some clear favourites. We selected the top five according to three criteria: usefulness of information, ease of use and appearance." They were:

• 1. Nouriel Roubini.  "Anyone who wants to follow the debate about the global financial crisis should visit it regularly. Take Brazil, the latest victim of financial turmoil. The site points you for starters to breaking news, press reports, comment from eminent economists, Brazil's IMF agreement and academic articles about policy issues such as the choice of exchange-rate regime. Mr Roubini, a member of Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers, keeps us abreast of all this free. The site is organised by overlapping topics, but it could be clearer. And it is not flashy (apart from the annoying "new" highlights, which flash). But the information and analysis is outstanding."
• 2. Paul Krugman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "[He] is also a prolific pundit. His views-for instance, that Japan needs a bout of inflation to kick-start its economy-are always provocative. The site is fairly functional in appearance but easy to navigate."
• 3. National Bureau of Economic Research. "America's top economic-research institute publishes new academic papers on its website every week, long before they are picked up by economic journals. Inevitably, there is a lot of dross, but there are gems too which can be downloaded free. The search facility is excellent, and there are interesting economic databases. The site is simple and clearly laid out."
•  4=. Nicholas Economides, New York University's Stern School of Business. "[It] includes running coverage and analysis of the Microsoft antitrust trial, as well interesting papers that illuminate the issues behind it. The list of contributors' e-mail addresses is handy for those who want to pursue a subject further. Annoyingly, though, the site is often busy. It too has a penchant for flashing logos."
• 4=. Hal Varian, University of California at Berkeley. "[He] is the author of "Information Rules", a handbook on the network economy, and is a leading microeconomist. His site looks more professional. It also includes photos of his wife Carol's quilts."
• 5. The Mining Company. "[It] has the motto: "We mine the net so you don't have to". This site is aimed at a wider audience than the others and although its content is accessible it can also be lightweight. It is a useful starting point for finding other economic resources on the web, and also hosts discussions on topics such as social-security reform. It has a message board and a chat facility, and the layout and design are of high quality."
• 6. Brad DeLong, University of California at Berkeley. "[He] writes economic book reviews."

OECD. "[It] includes comprehensive links to the statistics offices in many countries."
Resources for Economists on the Internet by Bill Goffe, University of Southern Mississippi. "[It] contains over 700 links to other economic sites, as well as its own reviews of the best."
The Dismal Scientist. "[It is] a webzine dedicated to economic news, is fun. But its analysis is pedestrian and sometimes (on the significance of America's trade deficit, for example) plain wrong."
Financial Times. Wall Street Journal. The Economist.
Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley Dean Whitter. "[These] investment banks now offer free research."
Pasi Kuoppamaki, Bank of Finland. "[He] has compiled a catalogue of jokes about the dismal science and its practitioners. One example: an economist is someone who doesn't know what he's talking about-and makes you feel it's your fault."

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© cspry@sghms.ac.uk. Department of Biochemistry & Immunology, St. George's Hospital Medical School, London SW17 0RE, UK. Phone +44 20-8725 5819; fax +44 20-8725 5821. This page was last updated on 02 January 2002 14:16:11.