Eight times per year, the Federal Reserve* publishes a "Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District", commonly known as the Beige Book.

Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its District through reports from Bank and Branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources. The Beige Book summarizes this information by District and sector. An overall summary of the twelve district reports is prepared by a designated Federal Reserve Bank on a rotating basis and released two weeks prior to each Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting eight times per year. .

Federal Reserve District banks have been printing summaries of the economic conditions in their districts since 1970. Initially this "Red Book" was prepared for policymakers only and was not intended for public consumption. It was made public in 1983. To mark this change, the color of the cover was changed and the publication became known as the Beige Book. (Source: FRS)

This widely sourced information is extremely valuable to organizations that are developing and/or implementing business plans dependent on or impacted by the economy, which is probably most of us. It's also information that feeds into the Federal Reserve and effects economic decisions that develops out of their meetings. It provides a current economic view at the national level as well as regionally at the District level.

Link for Current Beige Book Publishing Schedule (and links to published reports):
http://www.federalreserve.gov/fomc/beigebook/2006/
(Note: for schedule in other years, change year in above link. You can access back to 1996 with this method.)

Click here to search the Beige Book Archive 
 
 
 
*The Federal Reserve System (more commonly referred to as the Federal Reserve, or just "The Fed") is the central bank of the United States. It was funded by Congress in 1913 to provide the nation with a safer, more flexible and more stable monetary and financial system. It is a federal system, composed basically of a central, governmental agency -- the Board of Governors -- in Washington, D.C., and twelve regional (district) Federal Reserve Banks, located in a major city in each of the 12 districts throughout the nation.  Click here for the Federal Reserve FAQ page.
 
See also previous article: Making Sense of the Federal Reserve - In Plain English.

 
 
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