Executives and managers hear or read headlines about recent economic data nearly every business day. Most important economic statistics are the products of programs designed to collect and analyze data to report summary results at regular intervals. Properly interpreted, these economic indicators provide useful barometers for different aspects of the economy and identify trends that aid better planning decisions. Economic indicators are available at the national level, state level, and even the regional and municipal levels. This text focuses on economic indicators for the overall U.S. economy, identifying major categories of economic indicators and describing the key indicators in each of the categories. Most key economic indicators are reported promptly on the Internet and are provided as formatted time series that can be readily downloaded and analyzed. This text will include links to the sources for key economic indicators, as well as websites that maintain calendars of upcoming announcements and consensus forecasts of the indicators shortly prior to a formal announcement.

Businesspersons and investors have been conditioned to anticipate that after a period of turbulence following the "Great Recession," conditions will return to "normal." For the preceding generation (from 1982 to 2007), "normal" was the economic "Great Moderation": a period of low inflation and low unemployment that brought on high growth in asset values. Those days are gone. This book reviews the major, and largely inescapable, trends that will make the next generation a more challenging investment environment in all developed economies: an aging population and an overextended government. California today captures the challenges that will be faced by the American economy over the next decades. After summarizing these trends, the book outlines investing strategies for individuals and companies can use this new environment. It provides an extended case study in how greater economic literacy can offer readers an advantage for understanding the opportunities, and threats, presented by long- term trends.