Good economists always stay updated on what’s going on in the world. Answering economic questions often requires a deep knowledge of international issues, markets, political issues, cultural differences, and general freak occurrences. Here are a few places to get your news and stay updated on world of economics:
News — some imperfect substitutes
- Financial Times: BU has a group subscription to FT, so you can set up an account and subscribe for free. This is the most even-handed and consistent place to get your news, so that’s a good deal.
- Wall Street Journal: Articles are behind a paywall, but you can access all editions for free via BU’s ProQuest proxy databases.
- Council on Foreign Relations‘ daily news briefing: Scroll to the bottom of the homepage and you’ll find a form to request daily briefings via email.
- The Economist: Articles are behind a paywall
- Gallup: Data-driven news
Blogs — where economists battle out their ideas on day-to-day issues and offer advice to aspiring economists
- Greg Mankiw’s blog
- Paul Krugman’s NYT blog
- World Bank’s blog
- Ben Bernanke’s blog
- Freakonomics
- The Economist’s Free Exchange
- Larry Summers’ blog
- If that’s too many to keep track of: AEA’s blog aggregator
Podcasts — because they’re interesting and you have nothing better to listen to
- NPR’s Planet Money — 20-minute audio documentaries on popular economics
- Russ Roberts’ EconTalk — in-depth interviews with some of the world’s most prolific academic economists
- FT’s Alphachat — conversational podcast on business and economics, from policy issues to market debates
- Freakonomics Radio
