A tool that economists will use more of as time goes on is that of knowledge management. After all much of economics depends on the value of information. A starting point for economists using the web as a research tool is the use of knowledge management tools across the web.

At econo-my.com our favourite is elfsoft., in particular their infojukebox. This tool allows you to use Natural Language queries searching across the web. This is different from other meta search engines and aggregator search engines that use multiple web sites as it searches the context of your web inquiry rather than just matching phrases. The tools on the elfsoft site also allow you to save your favourite searches and email results.

Another tool on the site is that you can download software that allows you to ask structured queries of your own local statistical databases. Asking a query such as "Show me the countries where wages increased at a faster rate than house prices" is far easier than having to manipulate the data each time you want to compare a relationship (although most of us will still choose to do it the hard way anyway).

We are trying to understand how economists can use these type of tools in the future so if you have any comments please add them to our debate section