Need a global perspective of world economics and world events? Many of our readers do, especially those who sell equipment, supplies, software, and other products around the world. Stratfor has been a resource for diplomats and multinational businesses for decades. Their 2016 world outlook is available at their site and is free to download.
For some other world data, there's always the online CIA World Factbook. Impress your co-workers by saying “I got this from the CIA.” Make sure you lean toward them and whisper it for the full effect. A few days later you'll hear muttering around the water cooler “Joe's really connected, he's got a connection at the CIA.” When someone asks, never say you got if off the Internet. Say “I downloaded it from a CIA server.” Sounds much more nefarious that way.
And to round out the picture, there's always the Index of Economic Freedom
More economic data can be found at these websites:
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
- World Bank
- International Monetary Fund (IMF)
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis' has been adding many international data series to their FRED project. It's worth checking regularly because their data banks are growing. What they don't have today, they might have a month from now.
Discussion
By Kyl Reb on Jan 19, 2016
These are all great sources of economic data. I'd like to add another source that I use. It covers monthly economic indicators since 1995 for up to 169 countries and is updated on a monthly basis. It covers indicators, such as CPI, Core CPI, Real GDP Growth, Industrial Production, Retail Sales, Imports, Exports, Foreign Exchange Reserves, Money, Terms of Trade, and more.
Here's the link: http://www.morethanbrics.com/blog
By Stan Najmr on Jan 19, 2016
I recommend an extra caution when using www.morethanbrics.com data. I found it highly unreliable when it comes to markets controlled by governments. Reprinting wish lists without a reality check is not very helpful.
By Kyl Reb on Jan 19, 2016
Hi Stan,
Let me address your comment. The Morethanbrics disclaimer clearly states that the data comes from unbiased World Bank sources which Morethanbrics ?a one-man show blog without financial interest? aggregates, arranges, and cleans up. They do no produce any data. Any data point is as (un)biased as the World Bank data.
Kind regards,
Kyl
By Stan Najmr on Jan 20, 2016
Thank you, Kyl. Our job is to challenge these data points with reality checks based on local factors which are never understood or, in many countries, wishfully massaged by overly optimistic governments or government controlled agencies. The United States of America has a history of highly reliable reporting which may be used during a decision making process. Do not apply the same confidence when it comes to data points from somewhere else. That is my experience and I stick with it.
Discussion
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