For example, a longstanding debate in macroeconomics has focused on how prices respond to news about the economy, and whether companies pass through to consumers changes in import prices that result from exchange-rate movements. Today, “big data” promises to enhance our ability to understand and even predict such responses.
比如，宏观经济学中有一个长期争论，争论的焦点是价格如何反应于关于经济的消息，以及公司是否会把汇率变动导致的进口价格变化转嫁给消费者。如今，“大数据”可以强化我们理解甚至预测这些反应的能力。这一方法的一种应用是麻省理工学院的“十亿价格项目”（Billion Prices Project），该项目观察在线零售网站的数十亿种价格跟踪通货膨胀。