The motivation behind this site is simple: Visually track trade data, provide easy access to the data and code behind the presentation, and do so in a way that is essentially "live" (as the US census releases the data, the data and figures are automatically updated).
The sources of inspiration are many. The Covid-19 pandemic lead to a proliferation of data about cases, deaths, by region and the explosion of non-traditional datasets (e.g. mobile phone tracking data) used to track related outcomes. Interact this with the proliferation of "data science" type skills in the population and next thing you know there are some amazing, compelling presentations of data out there. Obvious examples are the Johns Hopkins Covid-19 Map and Opportunity Insights track the recovery page.
A second important source of inspiration is Chad Bown's work at the PIIE that tracked and continues to track many different facets of the US and China trade war. Getting into the details of trade agreements, trade policy, trade data is not easy. He has made it far easier for many of us to understand the trade war at both a "macro" and "micro" level. I don't aim to replace his work, but to complement it, especially by presenting various regional outcomes associated with the trade war.
It's a team of one right now: Mike Waugh. I'm an Economist and Monetary Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. I was a Professor of Economics and the William R. Berkley Term Professor of Economics and Business at NYU-Stern School of Business. My formal CV can be found here.
The views expressed on this website are my own and do not represent those of my employer, in particular, the Federal Reserve System, or the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Some of the data displayed on this site was created with research support from the National Science Foundation (NSF Award number 1948800).
Want to help out? Want to know more? See a problem? Email me.