In a recent project assignment, I asked my students to collect time series data of CPI, and nominal exchange rate for several countries, at monthly frequency, starting from 1985. These are standard macroeconomic data. Many students came back and told me that they could only find data after 1995. The main reason was that they relied only on some search engine to help direct them to some online resources such as Yahoo Finance. For the record, there are a lot of online data sources that often keep a longer series. For example, FRED (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/) makes available a good amount of data, mostly related to the US. Other examples include the pages of IMF, World Bank and OECD.
When we feel that the data should be available but we are not able to find them online, always check the proprietary data providers at the library. These providers are charging a fee for their service. If they could not provide a better service than the free online resources, they would have been gone by now. At HKU, for macroeconomic data, I would recommend checking CEIC data, DataStream and Bloomberg.
As an example, consider a student who chose to work on Philippines. the earliest nominal exchange rate data available online for the Philippines is from 1997. It turned out that DataStream has the exchange rate of the Philippines since January 1986. Not quite 1985, but close enough! That is additional 10 years of data!
If you have not yet done so, I recommend learning to use these databases (CEIC, DataStream and Bloomberg, etc.). Data collection skills and data analysis skills have much market value.
2021-02-08 | Mini-projects to build up research ability (1) |
2021-01-11 | Be our advisor, please! |
2020-12-21 | Why do we need this transparency? For fairness! For learning! |
2020-11-23 | You want to build some muscle but do not want to use your time exercising? I can help by exercising for you! |
2020-11-18 | Feedback to feedback |
2020-11-15 | General comments on participant's performance in a competition |
2020-11-04 | Yes, 1200+ personalized versions of the test paper! |
2020-02-18 | Let students focus on learning, teachers on teaching, and thus together achieve the intended learning outcomes. |
2020-02-10 | Online learning requires Discipline, DISCIpline, DISCIPLINE! |
2019-01-15 | Supposedly not difficult to get a B grade. |
2018-12-11 | This quality is more important than grades. |
2018-11-15 | Late dropping |
2018-11-15 | Unreliability of average SETL scores due to the high non-response rate |
2018-11-13 | Let go! |
2018-10-24 | No, please do not use my lecture time for your society's announcement. |
2018-09-26 | Scheduling an appointment |
2018-08-27 | None of my business |
2018-08-21 | Course evaluation bounds and response rate |
2018-08-09 | Be a responsible job applicant |
2018-02-10 | No calories browsing.... |
2018-01-24 | Would "uncertain" help your postgraduate study application? I would say, CERTAINLY NOT! |
2017-09-14 | When helping your friend is NOT HELPING YOUR FRIEND! |
2017-09-13 | My life as a student -- AGAIN |
2017-09-05 | You like easy grade, easy honor, easy graduation? |
2017-07-18 | My Facebook friends, please protect me just as I protect you. |
2017-07-12 | An internship |
2016-03-01 | You know me. But, do I know you? |
2015-12-17 | Why learning fails to happen despite the great design of the course and the great teacher? |
2015-10-20 | Can I trust you, my friend? |
2015-10-17 | If we have the second chance to "retake", failing or getting a low grade would not be so stressful. |
2015-09-18 | My first-hand experience on why learning is not taking place in lectures! |
2015-08-20 | Are you sure Econometrics is useless? |
2015-05-04 | Eating 100 bowls of rice in a day |
2015-01-31 | You say you love me. How can I tell whether you truly love me? |
2014-10-24 | I would be happy to write recommendations letter for your PhD or Master application if .... |
2014-10-23 | Master of Finance at MIT |
2014-10-06 | Are you sure what you saw was black? |
2014-03-05 | GOLDEN opportunity -- only to the hard-working students. |
2014-03-01 | What to do when your teacher's teaching style does not fit your learning style? |
2013-11-28 | A negative experience? Not completely. It can be made into a positive one! |
2013-11-27 | Many thanks for your appreciation of my teaching (II) |
2013-07-23 | My next stop is Barcelona! |
2013-06-01 | Her decision to pursue Master of Finance after her undergradaute study at HKU |
2012-11-10 | What should I do at HKU (activities versus study and many other things)? |
2011-09-12 | Coach, can you teach me to swim? |
2010-02-18 | How government policy with good intention can create frustration and political instability? |
2009-12-01 | Cherish our beloved ones who are still around us -- when we still can! |
2009-11-27 | Trust your teachers, but don't trust them blindly! |
2009-11-26 | You can give me a low score but please write some comments to help me improve my teaching. |
2009-08-26 | The similarity in health care service provision and fire fighting service provision |
2009-03-23 | Be brave. Visit your teachers. Ask them questions. Your teachers are a lot nicer than you think. |
2009-03-14 | How can you verify this is really you -- Dr. Ka-fu Wong of HKU? |
2009-03-09 | I dream to work in the business sector. Should I pursue a master degree before I join the private sector? |
2009-02-19 | Any economist can predict this... Can you? |
2008-12-21 | My students performed poorly in the final exam.
Help me help them.... please. |
2008-12-20 | Learning should not end with the final exam! |
2008-11-19 | Exchange in Europe can be very rewarding! |
2008-11-18 | UC Berkeley is my top choice for exchange! |
2008-11-02 | Why did we not have fresh mushrooms twenty years ago? |
2008-02-23 | Dialogue is preferred to monologue. |
2008-02-13 | If I were a single unemployed old man who lives on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) |
2007-12-17 | Is forecasting a pure guessing game? |
2007-12-16 | I want zero emission of CO2! |
2007-11-30 | How would I choose universities for exchange? |
2007-11-28 | Excuse me. Can you write a recommendation letter for me? |
2007-11-12 | No pain, no gain! |
2007-09-14 | Teaching is to be enjoyed, and so is studying. Grades should only be secondary. |