[Kristen]

Dear PO members,

Do you know where I can find some good charts or graphs that provide up to date information pointing to the economic crisis we are in. I can't seem to find any that include 2009. Its for my fixing the economy speech. I finally finished the outline.

[hardtootell]

Dear PO members,

Do you know where I can find some good charts or graphs that provide up to date information pointing to the economic crisis we are in. I can't seem to find any that include 2009. Its for my fixing the economy speech. I finally finished the outline.

I like chrismartenson.com

http://www.chrismartenson.com/

[Kristen]

perfect,

thanks a ton

[kpeavey]

http://www.shadowstats.com/

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

www.prudentbear.com

I love the quote on their front page

"So long as the dollar weakness does not create inflation, which is a major concern around the globe for everyone who watches the exchange rate, then I think it’s a market phenomenon, which aside from those who travel the world, has no real fundamental economic consequences."

Alan Greenspan, November 18, 2007

What a good joke.

[skeptik]

The St. Louis FED has a research group which publishes excellent up to date US and international economic data; Lots of graphs and charts. Note that with certain types of data the Govt. has the habit of 'moving the goalposts'. Pay attention to what shadowstats.com has to say on this. US headline inflation and unemployment indices as quoted in the MSM are particularly misleading. The truth is out there in the data but you have to dig for it.

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/

[Kristen]

Tell me about it, I was at the bureau of labor statistics website and I just wanted a clean simple CPI index chart to point out what deflation looks like. The thing was like twenty pages long. The speech can't go over eight minutes so I have to keep it simple.

[Kristen]

Wow, the federal reserve has many charts, too bad i dont understand them

[r101958]

I agree completely with the Chris Martenson and Shadow Stats suggestions. Both sites have excellent information and are apolitical. Take the Crash Course if you've the time......even if you don't.

[pedalling_faster]

Wow, the federal reserve has many charts, too bad i dont understand them

that, i think, qualifies you as an EXPERT.

seriously. well, half-seriously.

almost everybody here started out wondering, "what does this non-borrowed reserves curve mean ? what do mortgage-backed securities & credit derivatives have to do with the current economic contraction ?"

i asked a stock-broker who swims at the same community pool as me. he deferred the answer (about credit derivatives) by saying, "i don't know. i just trust the experts."

i asked my brother, who is a VP at Morgan Stanley & has not been in a great mood lately. his first response, when i broached the subject of Peak Oil, "why are you so full of bad news ?"

his second response, when i asked him "how much of the losses associated with the banking problems have already been booked ?" was, "that's a very good question".

as far as real experts, there's -
* Satyajit Das, who wrote some of the primary texts on credit derivatives.
* Nouriel Roubini
* Chris Martenson (crash course)
* John Williams (shadowstats)

you can pick up bits & pieces from more conventional financial writers like John Mauldin
http://www.investorsinsight.com/

and Jim Puplava
http://www.financialsense.com/

i think one of the best approaches to understanding this is to have a friend who is interested so you can talk about it.

also, a willingness to trust your own common sense helps.

like, "how can the US keep borrowing money from the rest of the world ? what happens when China & Saudi Arabia decrease their purchases of US debt instruments ?"

[hardtootell]

l
as far as real experts, there's -
* Satyajit Das, who wrote some of the primary texts on credit derivatives.
* Nouriel Roubini
* Chris Martenson (crash course)
* John Williams (shadowstats)

you can pick up bits & pieces from more conventional financial writers like John Mauldin
http://www.investorsinsight.com/

and Jim Puplava
http://www.financialsense.com/

i think one of the best approaches to understanding this is to have a friend who is interested so you can talk about it.

also, a willingness to trust your own common sense helps.

like, "how can the US keep borrowing money from the rest of the world ? what happens when China & Saudi Arabia decrease their purchases of US debt instruments ?"

I agree that N. Roubini is top notch. Calm, level headed,sane sounding and w/o any apparent political agenda. He is well respected for being RIGHT alot!