Link to Federal Reserve Speeches

Here's the link to past Fed Reserve speeches.

Don't fight the Fed, as they say. The speeches tell you what the Fed is going to do and their thought process. Right or wrong, they make the market, so listen.

Janet Yellen's Articles

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Janet Yellen will probably be the next head of the Federal Reserve.

I did a search on her publications and these are two of the most cited articles.

"The Fair Wage-Effort Hypothesis and Unemployment." Quarterly Journal of Economics 105.2 (1990): 255-83. 

"Efficiency Wage Models of Unemployment." American Economic Review 74.2 (1984): 200-5.

Liber8 Website Is A Great Data Source

The St. Louis Fed has a great collection of data called LIBER8. Search a panoply of stats including money supply, sales of consumer products, unemployment rate, money in circulation, any economic indicator you can think of - and more.

2010 Beige Book Release Calendar

The Federal Reserve published the Beige Book - rather anecdotal accounts of current economic activity that is released a few times a year.

According to the Federal Reserve website:

"Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its District through reports from Bank and Branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources."

This is the schedule to the different 2010 Beige Book releases.

New Beige Book is Out

The Fed Reserve has released its current edition of the Beige Book. Editions come out eight times a year. The actual title is Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions.

This is the book that summarizes current economic conditions in different areas of the country. It's a little general in content, but it's often referred to by economic commentators.

Federal Reserve Websites Are A Good Source of Information

One interesting place to find economic data and thought pieces with an economic slant are the websites of the Federal Reserve regional banks. I've learned about Texas exports, infrastructure, economic dimensions of social policy and of course, the housing crisis.

So there's always a lot about forecasting and analysis of current conditions on these sites, but also some interesting, learned papers about various topics. Keep your eyes peeled for economists writing about cutting edge issues that haven't received a lot of information yet.