Page One Economics

The Labor Market for Influencers

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 10:00:00 -0600

The market for influencers can be characterized as a winner-take-all market where small differences in ability or other human capital translate to larger differences in pay.

The Fed’s Balance Sheet and Ample Reserves

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 09:30:00 -0600

Learn how the Federal Reserve uses its balance sheet in a sustainable ample-reserves regime.

Fruit of the Boom: The Impact of the Industrial Revolution on Economic Growth

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 10:00:00 -0600

This article uses the history of the Industrial Revolution to highlight economic growth in eighteenth century England.

Buy Now, Pay Later: A Credit Alternative

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 10:00:00 -0600

Learn how the alternative credit option known as “buy now, pay later” has evolved, how it is designed, and how this installment loan works.

An Economic Guide To Giving the Perfect Gift

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 10:00:00 -0600

Learn how consumer surplus and social utility are used to measure the value of gifts.

Understanding the Federal Budget

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 10:00:00 -0600

Analyze the federal budget and the differences between annual deficit spending and the national debt.

What Is the Balance of Payments?

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:00:00 -0500

Learn about the accounting system used in the U.S. to measure international trade transactions.

When the Unexpected Happens, Be Ready with an Emergency Fund

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 10:00:00 -0500

Learn how to prepare for unexpected expenses and protect your financial future.

Data Releases with FRED

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 10:00:00 -0500

Learn how economics statistics are assembled and made accessible in FRED.

The Market for Eggs: How Prices Are Hatched

Fri, 09 May 2025 10:00:00 -0500

Examine how the egg market operates and why prices fluctuate.

The Psychology of Free: How a Price of Zero Influences Decisionmaking

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 10:00:00 -0500

Explore the psychological factors behind the power of 'free,' including decisionmaking, social norms, and zero-price effect.

Open for Business: Understanding the Fed's Discount Window

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 10:00:00 -0600

Explore what the discount window is, how depository institutions access it, and how it helps the Federal Reserve conduct monetary policy.

Sold Fast: Price Tags and the Impact on Consumer and Producer Surplus

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 10:00:00 -0600

Learn how the price tag smooths marketplace exchanges and helps measure consumer surplus and producer surplus.

Advertising: Targets, Techniques, and Technology

Thu, 02 Jan 2025 10:00:00 -0600

This article discusses advertising as persuasive communication designed to influence consumer spending and offers tips for critical thinking in the marketplace.

AI and the Future of Work: Opportunity or Threat?

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 10:00:00 -0600

This article describes how AI works and how it could impact industries, create new opportunities, and transform job tasks across skill levels.

Data Seasonality with FRED

Fri, 08 Nov 2024 10:00:00 -0600

FRED^® provides access to rich data from more than 100 sources. Some of the data experience seasonal upswings and downswings, and sources report the data after accounting for those seasonal patterns. This article describes seasonality for new data users and can serve as a reference for advanced data users.

Who Buys Meme Stocks?

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 10:00:00 -0500

Learn how meme stocks differ from traditional stocks and how changes in financial technology have allowed new investors to enter the stock market.

Baseball and the $700 Million Bet on the Time Value of Money

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 10:00:00 -0500

This article steps up to the plate and explains the concept of time value of money using one of the largest contracts ever given to a professional athlete.

Marginal Product of Labor and U.S. Westward Expansion

Thu, 05 Sep 2024 10:00:00 -0500

History and economic concepts explain the westward migration of the U.S. population in the early nineteenth century.

Exploring the Dynamics of Unemployment

Thu, 02 May 2024 10:30:00 -0500

This article uses Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Population Survey data to examine labor market trends and the experiences of new entrants, re-entrants, job leavers, and job losers, highlighting how each group's behavior differs over time and during economic downturns.

How Does the Gig Economy Support Entrepreneurship?

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 00:00:00 -0500

The relationship between entrepreneurship and the gig economy: When an entrepreneur's income is sometimes lacking or unstable, the gig economy offers opportunities to supplement and smooth income.

The Inflation Rate Is Falling, but Prices Are Not

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 10:30:00 -0600

Inflation is an increase in the price level, or average level of prices, of goods and services. When the inflation rate decreases, prices do not. It just means that the rate at which the price level is increasing has slowed (called disinflation).

Retirement Account Basics: Why You’re Never Too Young to Start Thinking About Retirement

Thu, 01 Feb 2024 10:30:00 -0600

Explore the basics of common retirement savings plans, including employer-based plans and options for small businesses and self-employed individuals.

Payment Systems Evolution: How Does Money Move from a Buyer to Seller?

Tue, 02 Jan 2024 10:30:00 -0600

How does money move to and from bank accounts? Learn how a new service developed by the Federal Reserve can contribute to US payment systems.

Credit Cards: The Trillion-Dollar Debt

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 10:30:00 -0600

Learn about credit card history, statistics, and usage, as well as reasons for the increase in credit card debt and tips for managing credit card accounts.

Why Do Bond Prices and Interest Rates Move in Opposite Directions?

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 10:30:00 -0500

Students learn that the bond market, where existing bonds are bought and sold, creates a situation where bond prices and interest rates move in opposite directions.

The Trade-Off Between Fun and Wages Is Real

Mon, 02 Oct 2023 10:30:00 -0500

Choosing a job or career can be daunting because there are so many factors to consider. Most of the time, we compare the costs of getting a job, such as how much schooling it requires, how difficult the application is, etc., against just one benefit—the salary. In this article, we move beyond the pay and introduce several tangible and intangible benefits to consider when selecting a job.

Is College Still Worth the High Price? Weighing Costs and Benefits of Investing in Human Capital

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 10:30:00 -0500

Students have several options for life after high school. While college has been a popular choice, college enrollment for recent high school graduates has dropped, and some people are challenging the notion that college is the best route for the majority of students. This article examines whether college is still a good investment.

The Rise (and Fall) of Inflation During the Early 2020s

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 10:30:00 -0500

There are several measures of inflation; each one plays a role in providing a more complete understanding of inflation's causes and effects. This econ primer describes key measures of inflation, including CPI, and how the FOMC pays particular attention to these measures as it makes policy decisions—adjusting its policy stance when necessary.

What Should College Athletes Be Paid? Market Structure and the NCAA

Thu, 13 Jul 2023 10:30:00 -0500

What should college athletes be paid? The debate over compensation of student athletes in the U.S. is not new, but recent policy changes have brought the issue to the forefront. Learn how the market structure underlying college athletics has taken the issue all the way to the Supreme Court.

Data Geographies with FRED®

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 10:30:00 -0500

FRED can display data in choropleth maps, using shading and colors to convey historical and current data for a given area. This data primer describes the different data geographies available in FRED, which help shape the stories behind the numbers.

Why Are Some Social Media Sites Free to Use?

Mon, 01 May 2023 10:30:00 -0500

If companies always try to maximize profits, why are so many social media sites free to use? Learn how these platforms operate, as well as what positive and negative 'network effects' are at play,

Why Are We So Impatient? A Look into Money and Delayed Gratification

Mon, 03 Apr 2023 10:30:00 -0500

Why is it so hard to save money? Learn more about delayed gratification and self-control, which help us work toward the future benefits of saving money.

All About the Business Cycle: Where Do Recessions Come From?

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 10:30:00 -0600

What constitutes a recession? Two quarters of negative real GDP growth? Well, most of the time that "rule of thumb" definition works, but not always. The NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee has a more nuanced way of determining what a recession is. This essay discusses where recessions come from, how they are determined, and how they end.

What Is the Best Strategy for Paying Off Credit Card Debt?

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 10:30:00 -0600

Economists and personal finance gurus disagree on the best strategies for paying off that debt across multiple credit cards. What is the best strategy?

Adjusting for Inflation

Tue, 03 Jan 2023 10:30:00 -0600

Learn how price indexes can be used to adjust nominal wages and interest rates into real--aka, 'inflation-adjusted'--values. As inflation raises the overall price level in an economy, the dollar's purchasing power decreases and borrowing and lending costs increase.

Beyond Inflation Numbers: Shrinkflation and Skimpflation

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 10:30:00 -0600

Inflation numbers are important economic indicators. But thinking beyond the numbers reveals a deeper reality. For example, how do businesses respond to inflation? Some resort to shrinkflation and skimpflation. Learn about these practices and their effects on consumers.

How Federal Reserve Bank Presidents Ensure “Main Street” is Represented in Monetary Policy

Mon, 14 Nov 2022 10:30:00 -0600

What do Federal Reserve Bank presidents do and how do they ensure the concerns of people across the country are reflected in monetary policy?

Beyond the Hype: An Introduction to Crypto Assets

Mon, 03 Oct 2022 10:30:00 -0500

Crypto assets are seen by many as an enticing investment opportunity. Learn more about crypto assets, blockchain technology and the emerging crypto universe.

Data Revisions with FRED®

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 10:30:00 -0500

This Page One Economics Data Primer describes the reasons data are revised and updated. More accurate data facilitate better decisionmaking.

How Does the Fed Use Its Monetary Policy Tools to Influence the Economy?

Mon, 02 May 2022 10:30:00 -0500

This issue explains how the FOMC conducts monetary policy and how the Fed uses its policy tools to steer the federal funds rate into the FOMC's target range.

The Endowment Effect

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 10:30:00 -0500

Due to the endowment effect, people place more value on items they own rather than on items they don't.

On the Move: Mortgage Basics

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 10:30:00 -0600

Learn about mortgages and the steps people can take early in life to prepare themselves financially to buy a home.

A Dollar’s Worth: Inflation Is Real

Wed, 01 Dec 2021 10:30:00 -0600

Understanding the reality of inflation can help consumers make decisions in personal finance. Learn more about inflation, how it’s measured, and how the inflation rate is calculated.

Data Units in FRED®

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 10:30:00 -0600

This Data Primer describes the range of data units available in FRED, including their common use and interpretation, that help reveal the story behind the numbers.

Automation and the Minimum Wage

Mon, 01 Nov 2021 10:30:00 -0500

A higher minimum wage would provide higher income for low-wage workers but also likely reduce job opportunities. Some of the reduction in job opportunities would occur from employers automating job tasks to replace more expensive human labor. This article explains how a higher mandated wage may lead some firms to substitute capital for labor.

Ethical Use of Data with FRED®

Fri, 15 Oct 2021 10:30:00 -0500

What are the ethical considerations for researchers who use data? This data primer describes standards for gathering, analyzing, storing, and distributing data for new data users and serves as a reference for advanced data users.

Do You Want an Extended Warranty with That?

Fri, 01 Oct 2021 10:30:00 -0500

Before buying an extended warranty or a service contract for your home, a car, or an appliance, be sure to read the fine print and weigh the costs and benefits.

Teaching the Linkage Between Banks and the Fed: R.I.P. Money Multiplier

Fri, 17 Sep 2021 10:30:00 -0500

The money multiplier has been a standard concept in introductory economics classes for decades, but changes in the way the Fed implements monetary policy has made the model obsolete. This article provides information about the linkages between the Fed and the banking system and provides teaching suggestions.

Inflation Expectations, the Phillips Curve, and the Fed’s Dual Mandate

Thu, 15 Jul 2021 10:30:00 -0500

Inflation has evolved in recent years. This article explores how the relationship between inflation and employment is changing, and what the Federal Open Market Committee has stated about its strategy to meet its price stability goal.