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 document 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

Example eith Multiple Variables

# 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:

Description of the Data

ecodata_description_table(mydata)

Getting Started

1. Login / Create an account at FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
   (click person icon at top right)

2. Follow this link to create a FRED API key which gives you access to download data from your code

3. Login / Create Posit Cloud account at Posit Cloud

4. Follow this link to join the

   ECO 301 space on Posit Connect

5. Go into the console in Posit cloud and enter that 32-character FRED API key and in the Posit Cloud console, set the key:
   ecodata_set_fredkey("abcd1234efgh5678ijkl9012mnop3456")
   

   (insert your own 32-character key, this one won't work)

   This is part of getting_started.R in the project, ECODATA Homework 1

Documentation (Optional)

• All the documentation for 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