This paper addresses a general problem with the use of surveys as source of information about the state of an economy: Answers to surveys are highly dependent on information that is publicly available, while only additional information that is not already publicly known has the potential to...

The literature paid some attention, some time ago, to the relationship that, supposedly, should exist between the level of consumer confidence and the unemployment rate. This relationship is interesting, both from a scientific point of view, given the inherently subjective character of that...