What are the best free policy and regulation coverage sites for staying current on the economy?

Here are some of the best free policy and regulation coverage sites if you want to stay current on the economy. I’ve grouped them by what they’re best at:

Top general policy/economy coverage

• Reuters — Best overall for fast, reliable coverage of policy, central banks, budgets, regulation, and macroeconomic developments.
• Associated Press (AP) — Good broad coverage of government and economic policy, especially for breaking news.
• Financial Times (free articles limited) — Excellent policy/economy reporting, though much of it is paywalled.
• The Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / The Economist — Strong but mostly paywalled, so not ideal if you want free access.

Strong free policy-focused outlets

• Politico — Very strong on U.S. policy, regulation, Congress, executive agencies, and economic policy.
• The Hill — Good for U.S. legislative and regulatory developments.
• Axios — Short, efficient explainers on policy, markets, and regulation.
• Semafor — Useful for policy and business intersections, with some free access.
• NPR — Good for readable summaries of policy decisions and their economic effects.

Best for regulation and government actions

• Federal Register — Official source for proposed and final U.S. regulations.
• Regulations.gov — Tracks rulemakings and public comments.
• Congress.gov — For legislation that may affect taxes, spending, trade, labor, and financial rules.
• GovInfo — Official U.S. government publications and rules.
• White House Briefing Room — Useful for executive orders, policy announcements, and agency priorities.

Best for economic policy analysis

• Brookings Institution — High-quality analysis on fiscal, monetary, labor, and regulatory policy.
• Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) — Great for trade, tariffs, globalization, and macro policy.
• Urban Institute — Strong on tax, health, housing, and social policy economics.
• NBER papers page — Useful for research on macro and policy, though more academic.
• CBO — Excellent for nonpartisan analysis of budgets and economic effects.
• Fed publications — Federal Reserve speeches, minutes, reports, and regional Fed research.

Best for global policy/economy coverage

• Reuters World — Best free global policy and economic news.
• Nikkei Asia — Some free coverage on Asian economic policy.
• EU news / European Commission press releases — Good for EU regulatory and economic policy changes.
• OECD and IMF — Strong official analysis and country policy reports.
• World Bank — Useful for development, growth, and policy research.

Best official sources for staying current

These are not “news sites,” but they’re essential if you want primary-source updates:

• BLS — Jobs, CPI, wages, productivity
• BEA — GDP, income, consumer spending
• Census Bureau — Retail, housing, trade-related data
• Treasury — Fiscal policy, sanctions, debt, borrowing
• Fed — Interest rates, inflation commentary, banking regulation
• SEC / CFPB / FTC / FCC / DOL / EPA / IRS — Agency-specific regulatory activity

A practical free stack

If you want a simple setup, I’d suggest:

1. Reuters for daily coverage
2. Politico or Axios for policy/regulation headlines
3. Federal Register + Congress.gov for official rule and law tracking
4. CBO / Fed / BEA / BLS for data and analysis

If you want, I can also give you:

• a U.S.-only version
• a global policy/economy version
• or a daily reading list with the best RSS/newsletters