Resources

Reading and research

Links and references curated by the AES board. Updated each year.

For AES members

Writing for the Review

These documents are required reading before submitting to the Andover Economics Review. The style guide and paper structure guide define the editorial standard; the OWHL research guide covers how to find and evaluate sources.

Library

OWHL Research Guide

The Oliver Wendell Holmes Library's guide to economics research at Andover. Covers bibliographic mining, source evaluation, and working with policy reports and data.

OWHL guide ↗

Editorial

Style Guide for the Review

Format requirements, grammar and punctuation standards, and guidelines for abbreviations, numbers, dates, and citations. Read this before drafting.

Style guide ↗

Structure

Paper Structure Guide

How to structure an economics paper for submission: research question, literature review, argument, findings, and conclusion. Includes guidance on what belongs in each section.

Paper structure ↗

Learning

Accessible economics writing

These are the resources the AES board reaches for first when they want to understand a topic or find a clear explanation of an economic concept. Most are free.

Reference

Library of Economics and Liberty

The most useful single reference for economic concepts. The Encyclopedia of Economics entries are rigorous without being impenetrable. The EconTalk podcast archive is also here.

econlib.org ↗

Video

Marginal Revolution University

Free economics courses built around short videos. Particularly strong on micro. Good for filling gaps before a presentation or paper.

mru.org ↗

Academic

JSTOR and NBER

Primary academic sources. JSTOR has most economics journals; NBER hosts working papers from leading economists, many freely available.

nber.org ↗

Data

FRED (St. Louis Fed)

The Federal Reserve's free data platform. Essential for any empirical work. Has virtually every US macroeconomic series you'll need, plus international data.

fred.stlouisfed.org ↗

AES curriculum

2025–2026 session readings

Each fall session has a short reading or video list. These are the starting points board members used to build their presentations. They're a good introduction to each topic rather than a comprehensive reading list.

Scarcity

Price gouging and scarcity

Munger on price gouging →

Opportunity cost

The cost you don't see

Roberts on opportunity cost →

Game theory

Trust and cooperation

The Evolution of Trust (interactive) →

Trade

Protectionism

EconLib on protectionism →

Intellectual property

IP and economic growth

St. Louis Fed on IP rights →

Cost-benefit analysis

Weighing policy tradeoffs

EconLib on CBA →

Competitions

For competition prep

Fed Challenge

FRBNY High School Fed Challenge

The official competition page, including the rulebook, past themes, and published issues of the Journal of Future Economists.

newyorkfed.org ↗

Academic competition

Economics quiz bowl prep

AES members have participated in economics quiz bowl competitions. This sample set from Northwestern's economics team gives a representative sense of format and difficulty.

Sample quiz bowl questions (PDF) ↗