For research on economic topics pertaining to developing countries and for comparative data, a good source is the
World Bank. Its sister organization, the International Monetary Fund also publishes a large amount of material,
both articles and data, on macroeconomics of developing and developed countries. Reasonably comprehensive datasets are available from
World Bank's World Development Indicators and IMF's
International Financial Statistics.
The institution that dates business cycles in the U.S. is the National Bureau of Economic Research.
NBER publishes several hundred working papers a year written by its research associates in various areas of economics.
All the paper titles and abstracts can be found on its web site. These papers can be searched using keywords
and purchased over the web for $5 a piece. Also check Economic Report of the President
for an annual macro evaluation of the U.S. economy from the President's Council of Economic Advisers. The reports contain many time-series macro data as well.
For a balanced and thoughtful analysis of U.S. and international macroeconomic issues,
Brad deLong's semi-daily weblog is the best on web yet.
For research on selected macro-money topics, the proceedings of annual symposia organized by the Federal Reserve Bank
of Kansas City give a good indication of where the profession currently stands. Check their
Symposium Proceedings page. Most FRBs also publish findings of in-house research in their Economic Reviews.
Some examples are Chicago Fed's Economic Perspectives, and
Philadelphia Fed's Business Review.
One of the best sites available on the web for free is the good old newspaper the
New York Times. Read it for interesting articles as well as current events.
To make sense of most economic and non-U.S. political events, I find the London newsweekly the Economist unmatched.
It mixes today's facts with recent, and not so recent, history and thereby helps the reader to form a deeper understanding of the issue at hand.
For some macroeconomic indicators, particularly consumer confidence and leading economic indicators, check the business nonprofit organization's web site, the
Conference Board. A widely read source for economic research and data is
Economy.com.