Data Resources Inc or DRI was co-founded in 1969 by Donald Marron and Otto Eckstein. Marron is best known as the former CEO of PaineWebber and founder of Lightyear Capital. Eckstein was a Harvard University economics professor, economic consultant to Lyndon Baines Johnson and member of the Council of Economic Advisors.
DRI became the largest non-governmental distributor of economic data in the world.
DRI also built the largest macroeconometric model of the era somewhat similar to the Economy.com model. Allen Sinai was a leading architect. Richard Hokenson did much of the maintenance work.
DRI also developed innovative software including the PRIMA and AID database languages; EPL Econometric Programming Language; MODSIM for solving models; and MODEL for solving econometric models in particular. Later the functionality of all these programs was merged into the EPS Econometric Programming System by the chief architect of all this software, Robert P. Lacey. Other programmers in this effort included John Ahlstrom, Greg George, and Joe Polak.
The DRI Review was published monthly and summarized what the models said for the economic outlook. This was presented in outlook conferences. DRI also held many educational seminars.
DRI was bought by McGraw-Hill in 1979, and merged with WEFA (formerly Wharton Econometric Forecasting Associates) in 2001 to form Global Insight.
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