Indeed, I have been struck since I have been at the Fed by the magnitude of the resources our economy puts into analyzing, reporting and commenting upon the standard set of statistics generated by federal statistical agencies every week -- efforts by the press, the business community and the people in between, such as those who write the newsletters and poop sheets that circulate over faxes and computers.
Some of us, in our early days, relied on the little income that our parents and grandparents obtained from selling copra and marine products to pay for our school fees and the basic necessities we needed at school. In most rural villages today, the income they got from selling copra still sustains the family and pays for school fees, church contributions and pocket money.