NET USERS CAN GET OWN WHITE HOUSE BRIEFING.

Byline: WebPointers By Kitty Williams

As I listen to the debates and follow the political campaigns leading up the elections in November, I often wonder where candidates get the figures on which they base their campaign promises.

Of course, I assume that there is at least a kernel of truth in the assertions made by both sides, but is it the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Probably not.

Most of us seem to glaze over when faced with economic data and statistics. Our leaders and would-be leaders count on our fitful, hazy understanding. Seldom do you see a footnote.

But a lot of economic information is available on the Internet for people who want to explore the facts behind the speeches. This information is also extremely useful in business if you're trying to plan for the future of your enterprise. And you can bet that federal regulations for your industry are going to be affected by this election.

At the Economic Statistics Briefing Room at the White House you will find links to nonpartisan information produced by federal agencies on output, income, employment, unemployment, earnings, production and business activity, prices, money, credit, securities markets, transportation and international statistics.

Phew!

If this seems like a lot to digest, don't worry. It's all available in easy-to-read charts with brief, clear explanations, plus a link to more comprehensive information from the agency that produced the figures.

The Output page includes information on gross domestic product, nonresidential fixed investment, personal savings rate, personal consumption, total U.S. expenditures for research and development, and more.

You'll find thumbnail charts for each category, which you can click on to get a larger version with supporting figures, a few lines of commentary, a comparison with previous figures, and a link to home pages of agencies such as the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture or USDA, and the U.S. Bureau of the Census.

If you want to know the actual figures on disposable personal income, per capita income, farm sector income, household income, poverty or household wealth, for example, click on Income on the Economic Statistics Briefing Room or ESBR home page. If you don't find the figures you are looking for at the ESBR site, there are many, many other sources of economic data on the Net.

William L. Goffe of the Department of Economics and International Business at the University of Southern Mississippi has assembled lots of links on his site, Resources for the Economist on the Internet. The site is very simply designed, almost clunky, but don't let that put you off. It's useful and it loads fast.

The table of contents on the opening page provides links to information about Internet resources, and thence, a link to the resource itself.

Click on Shortcut to All Resources to get a straight list of all his Internet links without editorial comment.

Click on World and Non-U.S. Data to find links to a variety of World Bank links, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Japanese Macro Data, and even the Scottish Economic History Database (1580-1780), with information on weather, wages, prices and crop yields for that period.

In other words, you can let the would-be leaders count you among the voters with only a ``hazy'' understanding, or you can look it up.

ADDRESS BOOK

Economic Statistics Briefing Room (http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr/esbr.html)

Bureau of Economic Analysis (http://www.bea.doc.gov)

Economic Research Service, USDA (http://www.econ.ag.gov)

U.S. Bureau of the Census (http://www.census.gov)

Resources for Economist on the Internet (http://econwpa.wustl.edu/EconFAQ/EconFAQ.html)

MEMO: WebPointers, distributed by Hope Springs Press, appears on Mondays. WebPointers Online (http://www.webpointers.com) archives current and previous columns. Feedback is welcome. E-mail ``catbirdwebpointers.com''

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