Why are you asking me? I don’t know anything.

But I can mention some of the websites that have provided interesting economic information over the past few years. None of them offer stock advice or anything like that — most of the time it’s just opinion, analysis, and explanation of economic data. While I, not being an economist, am not in a position to critically analyze them, I’ve followed some of these websites for two or three years, and history has borne a lot of what they’ve said to be right, and that has to count for something.

First up is Paul Krugman, for both his New York Times column as well as his blog. He is often shrill, and is probably considered a bogeyman to conservatives — oh wait, that’s probably something in his favor. His column is mostly policy stuff, his blog is mostly econ stuff. But again…he’s often been right.

More recently, I’ve been reading The Big Picture, by Barry Ritholtz. I started reading it probably over a year ago, when the sub-prime stuff started to really heat up, because he does a lot of stuff on housing. Anyways, he’s an econ nerd and laughs at stuff that’s really only funny to Wall Street types like him, but everything I’ve read has seemed reasoned and, again, is often right.

Lastly, there is Calculated Risk. Less analysis, for the most part, and mostly just news. When I was waiting for my bank to fail, I was checking this blog a lot, because they were doing pretty regular posting on the wheelings and dealings going on by the various players.

Finally, I just found out about a series of shows on This American Life that have focused on the current economic crisis and what caused it. In particular, you should look at Episode 355: The Giant Pool of Money and Episode 365: Another Frightening Show About The Economy. Both are available streaming for free, and you can download Ep. 365 for free and Episode 355 for pay. I listened to both today and I highly recommend them, as they go through some of those terms you may have heard about like collateral debt obligations and credit default swaps and explain the incentives behind the sub-prime bubble, all in a very accessible and entertaining way, with lots of interviews with mortgage brokers and corporate treasurers that have been down in the trenches over the past five years.

So, frequent visitors and random guests, I hope you enjoy the links. Since The Internet is one of my superpowers, it’s only fair that I give back to the community.