The advent of computers and of the Internet has led to the availability of a huge amount of data, in a form and quantity that was not even thinkable until some years ago. This phenomenon, sometimes called 'big data' or 'data deluge', is going to bring about the prophecy of H. G. Wells, that the ability “to think in averages and maxima and minima” will be in the future as necessary “as it is now to be able to read and write.” This is a fortiori true in economics. As such, the course aims at introducing the student to the statistical study of the relations among economic phenomena. At the end of the course, it is expected that the student is able to interpret the results, conduct tests and make forecasts with the linear regression model with an arbitrary number of regressors.