5. Economic Data Analysis

“Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill you.”

—PAUL NEWMAN AS BUTCH CASSIDY INButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

I have seen The Time Machine and Back to the Future. I watched Superman turning time backwards by flying faster than the speed of light with suspense-killing precision. There was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a child/man who somehow managed to age backwards without fully knowing what was coming. Time and the future are a fascination for all. This is life. We know what is coming; we know the inevitable. But we lack the details.

Turning to economic data, we know that there will be ups and downs. But when will the economy turn up? When will it go down? Much economic research relies on gathering ...

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