What are the best free macro commentary sites for following markets and the economy?

Here are some of the best free macro commentary sites for following markets, the economy, rates, and policy. I’ll group them by style so you can pick what fits your needs.

Top free macro commentary sources

1. The Financial Times – Markets / Economy

• Why it’s good: Excellent reporting and commentary on macro, central banks, inflation, growth, and global markets.
• Best for: High-quality daily macro/news flow.
• Note: Some content is paywalled, but a lot is still accessible.

2. Reuters

• Why it’s good: Fast, clean, and very useful for macro headlines, central bank decisions, data releases, and market reactions.
• Best for: Real-time macro news without noise.
• Note: More news than opinion, but very useful for commentary context.

3. Bloomberg free articles / Bloomberg Markets

• Why it’s good: Strong market and macro coverage, especially on rates, FX, and policy.
• Best for: Broad macro/markets awareness.
• Note: Much of Bloomberg is paywalled, but free pieces still provide useful signal.

4. Crescat Capital – Macro commentary

• Why it’s good: Contrarian, thesis-driven macro views with charts and data.
• Best for: In-depth bearish/bullish macro arguments and market cycles.
• Caution: Strong viewpoint; good to read critically.

5. Topdown Charts

• Why it’s good: Clear macro visuals and asset-allocation style commentary.
• Best for: Following global macro trends, cycles, and relative strength.
• Note: Often some free articles/charts are available; deeper content may be paid.

6. Real Vision (free articles / clips)

• Why it’s good: Macro-focused interviews and commentary from investors and analysts.
• Best for: Bigger-picture views on inflation, rates, liquidity, and markets.
• Note: Full access is paid, but free content can be valuable.

7. A Wealth of Common Sense

• Why it’s good: Very readable market and macro commentary with a practical investing angle.
• Best for: Long-term market perspective and framing macro in portfolio terms.
• Style: Balanced and less “trader-y.”

8. The Big Picture

• Why it’s good: Broad market commentary, behavioral finance, and macro context.
• Best for: A general market/macro daily read.
• Style: Accessible and often useful for cross-checking narratives.

9. Apollo Academy / Apollo macro posts

• Why it’s good: Strong data-heavy macro charts and debt/liquidity analysis.
• Best for: Macro credit, rates, and financial conditions.
• Note: Quality can be very high when they publish charts and commentary.

10. NBER / central bank blogs / official research pages

Examples:

• Federal Reserve regional bank blogs

• ECB blog

• Bank of England posts

• BIS publications

• IMF blog

• Why it’s good: More institutional, less opinionated.

• Best for: Understanding official thinking on inflation, labor markets, productivity, and policy.

• Note: Not “commentary” in a market sense, but excellent macro background.

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Best free sources for specific needs

If you want fast macro news

• Reuters
• Financial Times
• Bloomberg free articles

If you want investor-style macro commentary

• A Wealth of Common Sense
• The Big Picture
• Real Vision free content

If you want charts and macro cycles

• Topdown Charts
• Apollo posts
• Crescat Capital

If you want policy and official macro analysis

• Fed/ECB/BIS/IMF publications
• Central bank blogs and speeches

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Good free newsletters / aggregators to consider

These are useful if you want a curated daily/weekly flow:

• The Daily Shot sometimes shares free samples/charts
• Tker.co
• The Conversation / FRED-related posts
• Mises/market blogs if you like a specific ideological lens
• Substack macro writers with free tiers

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A practical “best combo”

If you only want a few sources, a strong free stack is:

1. Reuters – for daily macro/news
2. Financial Times – for broader context
3. A Wealth of Common Sense – for readable market framing
4. Topdown Charts / Apollo – for charts and cycles
5. Central bank / BIS / IMF – for policy and research

If you want, I can also give you:

• a ranked list by quality
• a list of best free macro Substacks
• or a daily reading workflow for markets and macro.