HOUTINI

Free macro,
told as data stories.

Free, no-paywall charts about the world economy: jobs, prices, retail, commodities, energy, the bond market. Every page builds itself in your browser from free public data (FRED, the World Bank, Our World in Data), and the whole thing is open source. No sign-ups, nothing behind a wall.

Markets & valuation

Where prices sit against their own history, and what the patient money is doing about it.

World employment

How, where and how much the world works.

Working Less, Living Longer
Annual hours worked has fallen for a century while lifespans rose. The quiet story of a richer world.
Coming soonOur World in Data
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The Quit Economy
Job openings versus quits: the labour market's temperature, and what it tends to say before a downturn.
Coming soonFRED · JOLTS

Lifestyle

The cost (and the shape) of a modern life.

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What Got Cheaper, What Got Dearer
TVs collapsed and software went near-free, while college, healthcare and childcare went the other way. Price change by category since 2000.
Coming soonFRED · CPI components
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The Vanishing Smoker
A generational public-health win, in one falling line.
Coming soonOur World in Data

Retail

Where the money ends up being spent.

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The Death & Life of the Store
E-commerce's relentless climb: about 17% of every US retail dollar now, up from 4% in 2010.
Coming soonFRED · ECOMPCTSA
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The Consumer Pulse
Real versus nominal retail sales: is spending really growing, or just inflating?
Coming soonFRED · RSAFS

Commodities & energy

The raw price of running the world.

Bond yields

The plumbing the whole economy is priced off.

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The Curve
The whole Treasury term structure, 1-month to 30-year, and what its shape has called for 60 years.
LiveFRED · DGS1MO–DGS30
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The Fear Gauge
High-yield credit spreads: the bond market's smoke alarm.
Coming soonFRED · BAMLH0A0HYM2

Trade & logistics

How the physical economy moves.