For a good understanding of what the Federal Reserve is and what it does, Federal Reserve Education Web site offers online FED101 -- an overview of the Federal Reserve's history, structure, and responsibilities including monetary policy, regulatory functions, and services provided to depository institutions. All Fed Challenge participants, novice and veteran, are recommended to take this brief Fed survey course.

Also, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis has put together an online presentation, "In Plain English: Making Sense of the Federal Reserve." It provides an excellent overview depicting the entities and responsibilities of the Federal Reserve System.

Anthony Santomero, past president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, has written a first-person description of a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, called “A Day in the Life of the FOMC.” The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's “Come with Me to the FOMC” (Part 1 and Part 2) looks at the same event from the perspective of former Fed Governor Laurence Meyer. On the same theme, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York provides the "FOMC Simulation" classroom activity.

Additionally, try "U.S. Monetary Policy: An Introduction" by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

• Economic Indicators "By the Numbers" -- Definitions, importance to the Fed
• Advance Report on Durable Goods Shipments, New Orders, and Unfilled Orders - Data on shipments, new orders, and unfilled orders, expressed in current dollars
• Beige Book - Anecdotal information on current economic conditions by region
• Bureau of Economic Analysis -- National, international and regional economic data provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce
• Bureau of Labor Statistics, Economy at a Glance -- Graphs and numbers for consumer and producer prices, employment, unemployment, and productivity
• Business Sales and Inventories -- Total current-dollar sales and inventories for the manufacturing, wholesale, and retail sectors of the economy
• Composite Index of Leading Indicators -- A barometer of economic activity over three to six months
• The Conference Board Business Cycle Indicators -- Economic indicators that are useful in determining current conditions and predicting the future direction of the economy
• Consumer Confidence -- The level of confidence individual households have in the performance of the economy
• Consumer Credit -- Loans to households for financing consumer purchases of goods and services and for refinancing existing consumer debt
• Consumer Price Index (CPI) -- An index designed to measure the change in price of a fixed market basket of goods and services
• Economic Statistics Briefing Room of the White House -- Easy access to federal economic indicators
• Employment Cost Index -- Changes in labor costs of money wages and salaries and noncash fringe benefits in nonfarm private industry and state and local government for workers at all levels of responsibility
• FedStats -- Gateway to statistics from over 100 Federal agencies
• Foreign Exchange Rates -- Choose from 10:00 a.m. or noon rates
• FRED2 -- Database of more than 800 U.S. economic time series maintained by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

• Global Economic Indicators -- Charts compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

• Housing Starts -- An estimate of the number of housing units on which construction was started
• Import and Export Prices -- Measures the change in prices of U.S. imports and exports
• Industrial Production/Capacity Utilization -- An index designed to measure changes in the level of output in the industrial sector of the economy
• Light -Weight Vehicle Sales -- Total unit sales and leases of domestic and imported new automobiles and light-weight trucks
• M2 -- One measure of the nation's supply of money, defined as M1 (currency in circulation, demand deposits, travelers' checks, and other checkable deposits) plus noninstitutional money market funds and small time and savings deposits
• National Economic Indicators -- Charts complied by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
• Nonfarm Payroll Employment -- An estimate of the number of payroll jobs at all nonfarm business establishments and government agencies
• Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) -- The total value of goods and services produced within the borders of the United States
• Retail Sales -- An estimate of the total sales of goods by all U.S. retail establishments
• State of the Nation on Stat-USA -- A comprehensive source for U.S. economic indicators and related press releases
• Statistical Abstract of the U.S. -- A collection of statistics on social and economic conditions in the United States
• Summary of National Economic Data -- Twenty-five tables and related charts on U.S. economic activity, updated weekly by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
• U.S. Census Bureau -- Online access to census data, publications, products, and programs
• U.S. Economic Data -- Charts on the U.S. economy, updated weekly by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
• Yield on 10-Year Treasury Bond -- The current market interest rate or yield on U.S. Treasury bonds maturing 10 years in the future

• The Federal Reserve System: Purposes and Functions (Ch. 2 & 3) -- Official guide to monetary policy
• Federal Reserve Publications Catalog -- Comprehensive listing
• Fed Ed -- Links to various Federal Reserve education resources
• Reports to Congress -- Regular and special reports by Federal Reserve members to Congress
• The Fed in Print -- A searchable index to Federal Reserve economic research
• Monetary Policy Page -- Articles, speeches, and other resources on monetary policy compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
• Resources for Economists on the Internet -- Dictionaries, glossaries, and encyclopedias provided by the American Economic Association

• Target 2 Point Zero (Bank of England)
• Monetary Policy Challenge (Reserve Bank of New Zealand)