Economic Indicators and the Health of the Economy
By Jodi Beggs, About.com Guide
- What are Economic Indicators?
- Commodity Prices
- Economic Growth and GDP
- Exchange Rates
- Inflation
- Interest Rates
- Recessions and Depressions
- Stock Prices
- Unemployment Rate
- Money Supply
- Government Spending
- International Trade
What are Economic Indicators?
This section answers questions such as "What are economic indicators?", "What do economic indicators do?", "What are the various types of economic indicators?"
Commodity Prices
An examination of what economic factors causes commodity prices to fluctuate and conversely what impact fluctuating commodity prices have on the economy.
- What is a Commodity?
- Exchange Rates and Commodity Prices
- Can We Expect $100 Barrels of Oil in 2006? - Oil Futures Say No
Economic Growth and GDP
Information on the business cycle, what causes economies to grow in size... or shrink in size.
- What is the Business Cycle?
- The Baby Boom and the Future of the Economy
- Presidential Elections and the Economy
- What do the Economic Indicators Say About Dubya's Chances?
- Will Hurricane Katrina increase GDP?
- Does the Superbowl Predict Economic Growth?
- How Do You Measure the Size of the Economy?
- The Effect of Income Taxes on Economic Growth
- The Economic Effect of Tariffs
Exchange Rates
Information on how exchange rates are calculated, how exchange rates are determined and what causes currencies such as the U.S. dollar, Euro, or Canadian dollar to fluctuate.
- Exchange Rates: What to Use as the Base?
- The Trade Deficit and Exchange Rates
- Exchange Rates and Commodity Prices
- Purchasing Power Parity: Link Between Exchange Rates and Inflation
- Is the Canadian Dollar Going Up in Value, or is the U.S. Dollar Going Down?
- Can We Expect the Canadian Dollar to Fall?
- How Does the Value of the U.S. Dollar Impact Canadian Businesses?
- The Canadian Exchange Rate
- Why Do Oil Prices and the Canadian Dollar Move Together?
- Is the Value of the Canadian Dollar related to Oil Prices?
- Will the Canadian Dollar Hit Par?
- Are Recent 2007 Movements in the Canadian Dollar Related to Oil Prices?
- The Performance of the U.S. Dollar in 2007
- Where can I get data on the Canadian Economy?
Inflation
Inflation is an increase in the price of a basket of goods and services that is representative of the economy as a whole. The following links describe what causes inflation and what impact inflation has on the economy.
- What is Inflation?
- Cost-Push Inflation vs. Demand-Pull Inflation
- Purchasing Power Parity: Link Between Exchange Rates and Inflation
- What is deflation and how can it be prevented?
Interest Rates
The interest rate is the yearly price charged by a lender to a borrower in order for the borrower to obtain a loan. This is usually expressed as a percentage of the total amount loaned. Interest rates, both nominal and real, have impacts on the economy as they impact the saving, spending and investment decisions made by households and firms.
- What are Interest Rates?
- What Happens if Interest Rates Go To Zero?
- What Happens if Nominal Interest Rates Go To Zero?
- Calculating and Understanding Real Interest Rates
- What's the Difference Between all the Interest Rates in the Newspaper?
- Are U.S. Interest Rates Going to Continue to Rise?
Recessions and Depressions
There is an old joke among economists that states: A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose your job. Learn more about recessions and depressions with the links below.
- Recession? Depression? What's the difference?
- Do Changes in Stock Prices Cause Recessions?
- Why Do Government Budget Deficits Grow During Recessions?
- Why Don't Prices Decline During A Recession?
- Are recessions good for the economy?
- Globalization, Unemployment and Recessions. What is the Link?
Stock Prices
The value of stock market indicies seem to be the barometer many use for the health of the economy.
- What does the value of the Dow Jones represent?
- When Stock Prices Go Down, Where Does the Money Go?
- Why Does a Stock Go Down in Price When There is a Big Sell Off?
- Do Changes in Stock Prices Cause Recessions?
- Does Wired's Page Count Predict NASDAQ Movements?
- Insider Trading: What did Martha Do?
Unemployment Rate
What are the causes of unemployment? What are the types of unemployment? What are potential solutions to reduce the unemployment rate in an economy? Is unemployment always a bad thing?
- Globalization, Unemployment and Recessions. What is the Link?
- Would 0% Unemployment Be a Good Thing?
- Has Employment Decreased Over The Last 25 Years?
- What is the Labor Force Participation Rate?
Money Supply
What is money? How much money is there in the United States? Should there be more money? How does the size of the money supply impact economic variables such as inflation, as well as economic growth?
- What is Money?
- How much is the per capita money supply in the U.S.?
- Why Not Just Print More Money?
- Why does money have value?
- Expansionary Monetary Policy vs. Contractionary Monetary Policy
- Why Does Money Have Value? - An Alternative Perspective
- What's the Future of Money?
- A Beginner's Guide to the Reserve Ratio
- Are Credit Cards A Form Of Money?
- What is the Demand For Money?
- What Was The Gold Standard?
Government Spending
Government spending decisions impact both the amount of taxes we have to pay, but the performance of the economy as a whole.
- Will Higher Taxes on Gasoline Lead to Higher Government Spending?
- Why Do Government Budget Deficits Grow During Recessions?
- How do we know that governments will not just spend the additional revenue from
International Trade
International trade covers issues such as tarriffs, sanctions, and exchange rates. International trade is praised by some and blamed by others for its impact on employment and the economy.