Directory of resources on the world economy

Development Organizations

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is a regional development bank that provides loans and grants to African governments and private companies investing in African countries in order to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development in its member countries. Established...

Asian Development Bank

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank that provides loans from capital resources on commercial terms to its member counties. Founded by 31 member governments in 1966 its mandated objective is to promote social and economic progress in the Asian and...

Inter-American Development Bank

The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB or IDB) was established in 1959 with the objective of supporting Latin American and Caribbean economic development, social development and regional integration by lending to governments and government agencies. The IDB is the largest...

International Finance Corporation

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) was established in 1956 with the goal to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries. Private sector financing is IFC’s main activity, meaning IFC finances projects without sovereign guarantees and is a...

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international economic organization of advanced countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. The OECD promotes policies designed to achieve the highest sustainable economic...

United Nations Development Program

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is an executive board within the United Nations founded in 1965. The UNDP works with local governments to meet development challenges and develop local economies through providing expert advice, training, and grant support to...

World Bank

The World Bank Group (WBG) is a group of five international organizations which came into formal existence in 1945. The five agencies that are part of WBG are the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA),...

Regional Economic Blocks

African Union

The African Union (AU) was launched in Durban, South Africa on July 9, 2002 as a successor to the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and consists of 54 African states (Morrocco is the only African country that is not a member). Proposed by the former head of state of Libya,...

Association of Southeast Asian nations

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a political and economic organization formed in 1967 by countries in Southeast Asia. Its 10 member countries include Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, and...

European Union

The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union originally formed in 1958 and established under its current name by the Maastricht Treaty in 1993. Since its inception the EU has grown in size adding new member states located in Eastern Europe. The EU has established...

Mercosur

Founded in 1991, Mercosur is an economic and political agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay (and currently waiting Venezuela to join). Other South American countries such as Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru currently are associate members. Mercosur,...

West African Economic and Monetary Union

The West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) is an organization of eight West African states was established in 1994. The eight countries in UEMOA are also members of The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which was founded in 1975 to achieve...

Other Organizations

International Labor Organization

As a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) established in 1945, the International Labor Organization (ILO) deals with labor issues pertaining to international labor standards. Specific issues that are addressed through the ILO are child labor, forced labor, minimum...

International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) came into existence in 1945 with a goal to stabilize exchange rates, foster global monetary cooperation, facilitate international trade and assist the reconstruction of the world’s international payment system. The member countries...

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental organization of 13 oil-exporting countries first established in 1960. OPEC’s objective is to co-ordinate and unify petroleum policies among its member countries with the goal of securing...

World Tourism Organization

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is a United Nations agency dealing with questions related to tourism. The UNWTO represents public sector tourism bodies and plays a role in promoting the development of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism, focusing...

World Trade Organization

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an organization that commenced in 1995 with aims to supervise and liberalize international trade. The WTO is a replacement for the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which was established in 1948. The WTO deals with the...

Global Forecasts

IMF World Economic Outlook

The World Economic Outlook includes macroeconomic forecasts for all countries around the world. It comes out twice per year in October and April with smaller updates in-between.

World Bank Global Economic Prospects

The World Bank's Global Economic Prospects examines growth trends for the global economy and how they affect developing countries. The reports include three-year forecasts for the global economy and long-term global scenarios which look ten years into the future.

Blogs

VoxEU

VoxEU is set up by the Center for Economic Policy Research in conjunction with a consortium of national sites. It provides research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists and scholars. The intended audience of the Vox EU is economists in governments,...

iMFdirect

iMFdirect is a weblog posted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) covering global economy and policy issues. iMFdirect’s content is related to the IMF’s work in economics and finance at global or national level and highlights debates over policy responses for various...

Econbrowser

Econbrowser is co-authored by Menzie Chinn and James D. Hamilton. While Menzie Chinn is a Professor of Public Affairs and Economics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, James D. Hamilton is a Professor of Economics at the University of California, San Diego. The two...

Greg Mankiw's blog

The long standing blog of the Harvard Economics professor Greg Mankiw.

International Data Sources

Most commonly used measures of corruption

Corruption is the use of public office for private gain and, unfortunately, it is quite common around the world. Also, it is difficult to measure. Paying bribes is (in most cases) illegal and hidden. Yet, there are efforts to measure corruption. Surveys ask people and...

Globalization data

The degree of globalization refers to how connected a country is with the rest of the world. The links can be economic in terms of international trade and international investment; social in terms of people mobility and the communications between people across borders; and...

Directory of Useful Resources