Geting Started with ECODATA

Getting Started with ECODATA

• ECODATA is an R package for downloading and visualizing economic data

• Can pull data from FRED and World Bank

• Create reproducible, professional-quality data visualizations, and documenting your data sources

• Easy only two or three lines of code

Example: Morgage Interest Rate

Download data on average 30-year mortgage interest rate from FRED:

# Load the library
library(ecodata)

# Download the data, save it in a data frame called `mydata`
mydata <- get_ecodata("https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MORTGAGE30US")

ECODATA data frame mydata:

Plot Mortgage Interest Rate

ggplot_ecodata_ts(mydata, title = "Mortgage Interest Rate - Fixed Rate 30-Year", plot.recessions = TRUE)

Information About Data

Get a description of the data

ecodata_description_table(mydata)

Cite the data

ecodata_cite_table(mydata)

Why use the ECODATA Package?

• Used in other courses: R is used in econometrics (ECO 307), statistics (STAT courses), and others

• Coding in R and Python used in industry, even among those who are not computer scientists or data scientists

• Even more important / relevant with AI

  • AI assistance makes coding more accessible

  • Verification and reproducibility is key with AI-generated content

Advanced Example

# Get three variables - Save the list of URLs in an objected called 'variables'
variables <- c("https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FEDFUNDS",
               "https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE",
               "https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL")

# Make up my own names for those variables 
varnames <- c("Federal Funds Rate", "Unemployment Rate", "CPI")

# Download all three variables, give them my own names
# Also set frequency = "m" for monthly data
mydata <- get_ecodata(variables, varnames = varnames, frequency = "m")

# Get only Great Recession + Recovery
mydata <- mydata |>
  filter(Date >= "2007-01-01" & Date <= "2016-12-31")

View of the Data

ECODATA data frame mydata:

Create a Plot for One Variable

ggplot_ecodata_ts(mydata, 
                  variables = "Unemployment Rate",
                  plot.recession = TRUE,
                  title = "Unemployment Rate")

Compute Inflation Rate

Inflation is the growth rate of the CPI

mydata <- ecodata_compute_pctchange(mydata, variable = "CPI", new_variable = "Inflation")

ECODATA data frame mydata:

Create a Faceted Plot

ggplot_ecodata_facet(mydata, 
  variables = c("Unemployment Rate", "Inflation", "Federal Funds Rate"),
  ncol = 3,
  plot.recession = TRUE,
  title = "United States Great Recession and Recovery")

Description of the Data

ecodata_description_table(mydata)

Getting Started

1. Login / Create Posit Cloud account at https://posit.cloud

2. Create your own copy of the ECODATA Exercises project by following:

   https://posit.cloud/content/9518648

3. Click + Save a Permanent Copy (top-right corner) to save your copy

4. Login / Create FRED account at https://fred.stlouisfed.org/
   (click My Account at top right)

5. Get your FRED key at https://fredaccount.stlouisfed.org/apikeys

6. Copy that 32-character key and in the Posit Cloud console, set the key:
   ecodata::ecodata_set_fredkey("abcd1234efgh5678ijkl9012mnop3456")
   (insert your own 32-character key, this one won’t work)

Documentation

• All the documentation: https://murraylax.org/ecodata/

• Getting Started Guide

  • Walks through many of the most common uses of the package.

  • Download data for multiple states or countries with ease

  • Plots with multiple variables, bar plots

  • Data transformations, computing new quantities

• Full reference manual