“From ABBA to Zeppelin, Led”

Joshua Hall, Robert Lawson, and Dirk Matteer
http://www.divisionoflabour.com/music/

This blog is surely something out of the ordinary! Each blog posting is of song lyrics that teach economic principles. Each post has a selection from the lyrics and an assignment for students or individuals to do. The lyrics are both in written form and you can listen to them. Search through for your favorite artist and see if they have been featured yet! You can search thought the entries by musical genre or topic area covered.
You really won’t ever listen to song lyrics in the same way again!
If you’re wondering how this method has been received by the academic community, the site was accepted for publication in the Journal of Economic Education.

A personal favorite is “Thousands are Sailing by The Pogues” posted by Joshua Hall about the effects of immigration on both host and home countries. Check it out!
http://divisionoflabour.com/music/2008/09/thousands_are_sailing.php

“Economics Roundtable” by Professor William R. Parke
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
[A compilation of opinions from both sides of the spectrum and in between]
http://www.rtable.net/index/rt/economics/recent

While most economics blogs out there either forward personal opinions, or a back and forth debate and commentary between economists on their prospective blogs, the Economics Roundtable is different. It compiles links to news and opinions from a wide range of web sites. So when you are working on that economics homework or as you are studying development in your Latin American studies class, take a look through the many resources that the site provides such as overview of micro and macro models in chronological order as well as definitions for economics terms. This compilation also saves you the hassle to searching through independent sites and search engines for blogs and other sources. The other advantage of this site is its adherence to searching for more objective sources. The sites selected are based on how difficult it is to separate the economics from the political and personal content, making the blogs that it features the top picks.

“Economics View” Mark Thoma
Department of Economics at the University of Oregon
[Perspectives on current economics]
http://economistsview.typepad.com/

Mark Thoma’s daily blog is a much more in-depth and serious look into the world of economics than Marginal Revolution. His blog is easy to search by topic, title, and via a search function increasing its functionality. He also includes links to a multitude other economist’s blogs as well as to his comments on the articles and postings of other fellow economists. Much if not most of his postings are reactions to the posts of others, including the authors of Marginal Revolution.
You could spend months digging through and trying to piece together Thoma’s arguments and opinions. However I really do encourage you to visit his personal webpage as well in order to get a clearer picture of his background. He teaches upper level econometrics and monetary policy courses, so his actual lecture material may not be very useful, however through the utilization of quotes from famous economist’s Thoma shows some of his views and leanings.
Once again I can’t stress enough how complete of a source and how useful the search functions are for Economist’s View.

Mark Thoma’s Web Page:
http://www.uoregon.edu/~mthoma/

“Marginal Revolution” Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok
“Small steps towards a much better world”

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/

Marginal Revolution is a blog that is written by Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok, both professors at George Mason University. It is an economics blog that is updated on a daily basis and tends to focus mostly on current events, as well as review of recent books and articles. Both Professors are well established and know for reliability. They also focus on a wide range of topics, and often pose intriguing theoretical questions. They advocate policies that are usually based around free-market policies.
This has become one of the most popular economics blogs, if not the most popular and frequently visited, much due to the theoretical questions that it poses, such as “Would Idaho have more people if it were a separate country?” and “Is it a good sign to see cops eating at a restaurant?”
If you’re looking for a more serious straightforward look at economics then this is not really the blog for you. However if what you are looking for is an interesting mix of economic debates, reviews with a trickling of jokes, photos and even a link to Tyler Cohen’s ethnic dining reviews then this is a must read blog.

If you would like more information about either of its authors please visit their web pages:
Tyler Cowen:
http://www.gmu.edu/jbc/Tyler/

Alex Tabarrok
http://mason.gmu.edu/~atabarro/