2018 is over.

2019 is here.

Honestly, where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday we were conversing about the 2016 IMPLAN Data Release Notes, discovering why robots aren’t actually killing jobs, and surviving the hurricanes by exploring the history of hurricanes in North Carolina.

Seriously, it has been a year to remember here at IMPLAN. These past 12 months we experienced growth internally and externally and found inspiration in every direction we looked. In that time we have also published more than 30 articles on our site, with a few standing apart from the others.

Which blogs stood apart from the others? The ones people felt inspired and intrigued by the most? Here are the 5 most popular blog posts of 2018 on the IMPLAN Blog:

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1. What is IMPLAN?

   Our most popular blog in 2018 was also the most direct blog we’ve ever written in relation to what our products have to offer. It answers questions such as: what IMPLAN is, who commonly uses IMPLAN, when the users put their impact and contribution analyses into practice, why analysts of every kind have relied on the insights delivered by IMPLAN’s data and software for the better part of a century, what the model shows you, and how IMPLAN’s products work.

2.  6 Common Economic Modeling Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)

   Ever make a mistake and have no clue how to fix it? I think it’s safe to say we’ve all been there. This article is one of our favorites because it lists common mistakes made with economic modeling. And, more importantly how to fix them.

3. Striking a Balance Between Fidelity, Transparency, and Expediency in Economic Data

   Our readers openly love to dive into anything and everything that concerns economic data. This, of course, makes complete sense due to the fact this is the core of what IMPLAN’s products provide.

   This article speaks directly to that. Dive into our data sources, how data sets are integrated into the software, and how some data points are calculated.

4. The Economic Impact of Increasing Exports of Vibranium from Wakanda

   We here at IMPLAN were thrilled to see "Black Panther" when it came out in theaters and even more thrilled that there was an economic component built into the storyline around the emerging vibranium trade alluded to in the film. We too a look at what sort of contribution vibranium would make the the United States economy and made available a copy of the Wakanda economic data set.

5. Amazon HQ2: When the Losers are Winners

   It’s not every day that losers are also winners, but then again this is Amazon we’re talking about. This article was the last of three articles detailing Amazon’s journey to decide the destination(s) of their Amazon HQ2. The journey began with our article comparing Amazon HQ2 candidate cities, followed up with our apology letter to our dear rejected roommate (the city of Raleigh), and finally came full circle a year later when even the losers were winners. The journey was one of kind, and just like us, our readers were eager to uncover the final destination.

And there you have it, those were our 5 most popular blogs in 2018!

As we say goodbye to 2018, we want to start our 2019 by thanking you, our customers and readers. Everything we do starts and ends with you and your passion for economic impact analysis. Cheers to a new year filled with economic data!