Sign of a faltering economy? Feds to close economic indicator site

[OhioChick]

EconomicIndicators.gov will be shuttered on March 1 because of 'budgetary constraints.'

February 15, 2008 (Computerworld) It may soon be harder to track whether the U.S. is in fact sliding into a recession with the closing of the U.S. Department of Commerce's EconomicIndicators.gov Web site. The site provides a public portal to key economic indicator data from the government.

The department's Economics and Statistics Administration announced that the site, which provides daily updates of key economic indicators released by the government's Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau, will be shut down on March 1 because of "budgetary constraints."

Amanda Terkel, deputy research director at the Center for American Progess, noted that the site has been particularly useful because people can sign up to receive e-mails as soon as new economic data across government agencies becomes available. "While the data will still be available online at various federal Web sites, it will be less readily accessible to the public," she added.

In an e-mail announcing the closing of the site, the Commerce Department offered a free quarterly subscription to STAT-USA/Internet service that provides economic and business data. "Once this temporary subscription runs out, however, the public will be forced to pay a fee," Terkel noted. "So not only will economic data be more hidden, it will also cost money."

Michael Masnick, president and CEO of IT research firm Techdirt, noted that the timing of the closure raises some questions.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9063022&intsrc=hm_list

[meegbear]

1. And in other economic news ...

our chocolate rations have been increased to twenty grammes, up from thirty.

[HereSince1628]

2. That site was endangering our troops by spending money that

oughta be spent on bullets. :sarcasm:

[Fovea]

3. This is covered by Dr. Shem's Rule #10 in the house of God.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_of_God#Laws_of_the_House_of_God

IF YOU DON’T TAKE A TEMPERATURE, YOU CAN’T FIND A FEVER.

[bdamomma]

4. what total BS

closing because of budgetary constraints, yea, *'s endless wars, and to keep us ignorant of the facts.

[jtrockville]

5. Ah... the thickening of bubble boy's bubble.

[marmar]

6. Apparently the Feds think people are too stupid to figure out there's a recession on their own.....

...... It doesn't matter what they do. There's not enough lipstick in Sephora to pretty up the pig that is the US economy.

[blondeatlast]

7. I'm surprised they didn't attribute it to "wanting to spend more time with the family."

Sorry gang--flu, waiting for a repairman, and Tylenol II talking... :rofl:

[live love laugh]

8. Well that's a good idea, if it's a secret then we won't know things are bad...

:sarcasm:

[Ganja Ninja]

9. Unbelievable is no longer a word that can be applied to this ..

administration so I'll just say incredible.