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webpage USinfostore.com     (February, 15th 1999).

USinfostore, as you would have read, presents US economic indicators in series. The website is straight forward and informative, and the first place to go. I had further questions which I emailed to the manager of USinfostore.com, Carlos Pelay. I have abbreviated the discussion.

Website: http://usinfostore.com


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From: "USinfostore.com"
To: "David Novak" ...

Mr. Novak:

Thanks for your interest in USinfostore.com. I hope I can answer some of the questions you raise.

First, the source of the information appearing in USinfostore.com databases are various U.S. government agencies and bureaus. For example, Flow of Funds data are published by the Federal Reserve Board; employment data, consumer price index, producer price index, etc. by the Bureau of Labor Statistics; manufacturer's shipments, inventories, etc. by the Census Bureau and so on. You can find a detailed listing of the databases included in our service (along with the source agency) at: http://www.usinfostore.com/USmacrodatadetail.html.

Regarding the Stat-USA.gov site: Most of the material in our databases also appears on the "State of the Nation" section of Stat-USA's site. The principal difference is that Stat-USA is much like a bulletin-board service (in fact, its origin is the Economic Bulletin Board that is still run by the Bureau of Economic Analysis) - you can find lots of current press releases on most of the major economic indicators. This is fine if you just want a current number or two: this month's unemployment rate or rate of inflation. However, if you want a historical perspective, you would be hard-pressed to do so using only the resources available on Stat-USA.

In contrast, the economic data available through USinfostore.com's Macro Service is in database form - historical time series, already cleaned-up and formatted and going back, in many cases, over fifty years. The Macro Service also includes free use of Proview - a nifty little program that makes it easy to find the particular data series you want from among 60,000+, view it in Chart form instantly, and export it to Excel or a statistical analysis program like SAS for further analysis.

In addition, the USinfostore.com Top150+ service is a completely free database service that provides unlimited access to more than 150 of the most popular U.S. economic time series. (You can view the complete list of variables included at: http://www.usinfostore.com/USfreedata_detail.html). Subscribers to this free service can also download and use a complete version of ProView (the same version that is available to our Macro Service clients).

Finally, we also accept subscriptions to our Macro Service (and, of course, our free Top150+ Service) from abroad, since all distribution of data and software are via the internet, and all credit-card billing for Macro Service subscriptions is handled real-time through a secure-server. In fact, we suspect that there exists even greater need for this type of service among those who must track the U.S. economy from abroad.

Regards,

Carlos Pelay
USinfostore.com
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Carlos, thank you for taking the time for a full answer to my questions. I have some more specific questions to ask, if you have the time. I would like to get the review right.

1_ Who is USinfostore.com?
Have you undertaken any other projects recently, or is this a new venture?

2_ As a site representing the needs of a wide range of users, I suspect there will be users interested in accessing your information only for a short period of time. Your prices are geared towards long-term subscriptions... How do you feel about short-term users subscribing for a month or two. (Is there a minimum subscription cost?)

Thank you,
David

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David,

Regarding your further questions:

USinfostore.com, Inc. is a new start-up firm providing a completely internet-based economic data subscription service. I am the founder of USinfostore.com. My background as an economist includes 10+ years of professional experience in both public sector and private industry in the U.S. I completed my Ph.D studies in economics (all-but-dissertation) at the University of Virginia, and am a member of the National Association for Business Economics.

You are right that there will be some users who will need access to economic data only for a limited time. Both subscriptions to the Executive and Professional editions of the Macro Service are billed on a month-to-month basis and there is no long-term contract to sign. Therefore, subscribers are free to use our service for any length of time they choose. In fact, we will provide a complete refund of the first month's fee to any subscriber that cancels during the first 30 days.

In the near future I do hope to introduce a special three-month subscription option to the Executive Edition of the Macro service. This would perhaps better fit the needs of data users who anticipate needing access for only a short period of time (students, for example)...

Regards,

Carlos Pelay
USinfostore.com

-- by David Novak ©asserted. See SpireProject.com or SpireProject.co.uk