Everyone seems to be watching the economy a little more closely, whether they're most concerned about the foreclosure crisis, credit card debt, or paying for college. Media coverage often misses the boat on these complex issues, but lively economics blogs have stepped in to fill the void, delving into politics and media criticism while deciphering the latest research. Here are a few to get you started:

Dean Baker, codirector of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, criticizes and clarifies the media’s economic coverage at the American Prospect's Beat the Press blog. 

Brad DeLong, a professor at the University of California–Berkeley, writes Grasping Reality with Both Hands, where he frequently corrects errors in economic and political reporting under the not-so-subtle heading “[Publication Name] Death Spiral Watch."

Marginal Revolution , an oft-updated site maintained by George Mason University economics professors Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok, appears on DeLong's helpful list of recommended econ blogs. Last week, Tabarrok posted an in-depth critique of the latest "math wars" study that questioned the existence of a math ability gap between boys and girls, attracting dozens of responses about sexism and former Harvard President Larry Summers' 2005 imbroglio over sex and scientific ability.

Another pair of George Mason economists, Donald Boudreaux and Russell Roberts, author the more conservative Cafe Hayek, which can be refreshing in challenging such conventional wisdom as the evils of Wal-Mart or off-shore drilling. 

At The Fly Bottle, Cato Institute research fellow Will Wilkinson offers a center-right view of economics, from critiquing global-warming alarmism to questioning the benefit of the minimum-wage hike. 

Dani Rodrik is a Harvard professor who blogs (infrequently, but quite readably) about globalization and economic development. For a more regular feed, Rodrik recommends Yale political scientist Chris Blattman's economic development blog.

Image by genericface, licensed under Creative Commons.

Last April, Wal-Mart set up the Live Better Index, which, among other things, tracks customers’ “adoption rate” of eco-friendly products. After one year, Wal-Mart reports a 66 percent increase in the overall adoption rate.

A decent chunk of this is in compact fluorescent light bulbs. But the organic milk adoption rate went up only negligibly, and the organic baby food rate actually went down. The lion’s share of the growth? “Extended life paper products.” As in the life of the individual roll of toilet paper, not the paper pulp from which it was made.

In other words, the toilet paper isn’t necessarily made from recycled paper, post-consumer or otherwise. However, there is a lot of it on each roll. The Live Better Index website helpfully points out that “you will not have to change the roll as frequently as with regular rolls,” enabling you to “reduce storage needs” and “make less shopping trips.”

One cheer for innovative green products!

For a different take on Wal-Mart, see “Big Box Panic” in the new issue of Utne Reader. 

(Thanks, Grist.)

— Steve Thorngate

Image by Marco Ghitti, licensed under Creative Commons.