Because bloggers provide a multitude of quick-links to other online postings, a thought developed in one place can quickly jump to other sites at the click of a mouse. Investors get a variety of views and ideas -- and the bloggers get exposure.

"This linking business is like a virus," says David Altig, economist and associate director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland who launched his site, Macroblog (macroblog.typepad.com²), a year ago. "I linked to somebody who started reading. Somewhere down the line, he linked to me. Then I became very visible."

Visibility is what counts for many of these economists who, like other bloggers, have turned to this medium precisely to get their voices heard.

"Nobody was asking me to write a column, and almost all previous attempts to even publish op-eds were denied," says Andrew Samwick, professor of economics at Dartmouth College, also known as Vox Baby (voxbaby.blogspot.com³) Now he has total autonomy -- and readers.

The top blogs in terms of the number of daily visits, still belong to those writing about politics. But the economists are making headway. Longtime blogger Brad DeLong (www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type⁴), a professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley and Barry Ritholtz, chief market strategist at the Maxim Group and the man behind The Big Picture (bigpicture.typepad.com⁵), have cracked the top 100, according to Web site www.truthlaidbear.com⁶, which tracks blog traffic. Dailykos.com⁷, a left-leaning political blog, is still No. 1.

Most economics blogs have a bias. Some even read like rants. But the medium has given voice to those that have been drowned out by established venues. And that means trading ideas. The more sober blogs, meanwhile, lend legitimacy to the medium.

Mr. Hamilton only began Econbrowser this summer, but he's already much read by his peers, and others value his analysis and frequent posts. "I did it in part because all my career I've been following oil markets," he says.

Bloggers themselves also benefit from the contact with readers.

"On a professional level, I've been making contacts that I would have never made before," says Mark Thoma, associate professor of economics at the University of Oregon, Eugene. Mr. Thoma is also a self-described left-of-center Democrat and author of economistsview.typepad.com⁸.

Critics of cyberspace contend that like-minded blogs band together and actually undermine debate. To be sure, many economists wear their politics on their sleeves, but that's true in other mediums too, including, of course, print.

Having arrived, it's unlikely economists will be departing the Web anytime soon. Most everyone they want to reach surfs the Internet. And the economists do a lot of their work online anyway.

"I haven't stepped foot in a library in five years," says Nouriel Roubini, associate professor of economics at New York University's Stern School of Business and founder of the site Roubini Global Economics Monitor (www.stern.nyu.edu/globalmacro⁹), a one-stop Web site of economics research and blogs.

Write to Agnes T. Crane at agnes.crane@dowjones.com¹⁰