Guide to the Web for Economics

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CHAPTER 9

International Economics

• International Economic Indicators and Forecasts
• Trade Reports and Statistics
• Reports and Statistics on Countries
• International Trade Organizations and Agreements
• Trade Policy Issues and Debate
• Foreign Exchange Rates
• Currency Converters On-line
• Alphabetical(9)
• Global Index

• Weekly International Economic Briefing
  • Type: report Level: intermediate Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: pdf/search
  • Site contains a Bank of America report that provides detailed forecasts of economic indicators for numerous countries. Page also provides the report in a downloadable pdf format and allows for internal searches of the site.
  • http://www.bankamerica.com/capmkt/brief_intl.html
• OECD Main Economic Indicators
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: pdf/search
  • Page from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) contains a 1999 issue of Main Economic Indicators and links to various measures for OECD countries, including production, employment, prices, interest rates, foreign trade, and much more.
  • http://www.oecd.org/std/mei.htm
• Tranquillity, Turmoil and Chaos for International Business
  • Type: writing Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Page from Scientific American provides a graphic of a world map that is shaded to reflect a forecast of domestic turmoil in each country with a rating of low, moderate, high, or very high.
  • http://www.sciam.com/1999/0299issue/0299numbers.html
• Foreign Aid and Development
  • Type: report/table Level: intermediate Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • A Congressional Budget Office report examining the relationship between foreign aid and development and identifying the economic, political, and social conditions favoring development.
  • http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=8&sequence=0&from=1

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Alphabetical(9)

Global Index

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Trade Reports and Statistics

• Trade Data/Trade Reports
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Page from the U.S. Census Bureau contains useful links for trade data. Clicking "country data" links to U.S. exports and imports with all partners by commodity.
  • http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/tradedata.html
• Foreign Trade Statistics
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: pdf/search
  • Page from the U.S. Census Bureau contains a plethora of links to current and historical foreign trade statistics.
  • http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/
• Office of Trade and Economic Analysis
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Page from the International Trade Association of the U.S. Department of Commerce provides links to U.S. industry and trade research data. Also includes links for state and metropolitan export data.
  • http://www.ita.doc.gov/cgi-bin/otea_ctr?task=otea
• Trade Development Agency
  • Type: writing/list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Page includes information about the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA), its resources, and the activities it funds. Also includes a world map linked to details about TDA projects in the various regions.
  • http://www.tda.gov/region/index.html
• International Accounts Data
  • Type: table/list Level: basic Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: pdf
  • Page from the Bureau of Economic Analysis includes a table listing various International Accounts Data, the release date and time period the data covers, and the format of the data set with links for downloading.
  • http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/di1.htm
• International Trade Resources
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: pdf
  • Site provides links to data used by researchers pursuing empirical studies of international trade. Many links allow data to be downloaded.
  • http://intrepid.mgmt.purdue.edu/Trade.html
• Top Trading Partners
  • Type: table Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Page from the Foreign Trade Division of the U.S. Census Bureau provides a menu for displaying the top ten countries with which the U.S. has a deficit, surplus, and total trade. User can select any month for the most recent fifteen months.
  • http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/top/
• Country by Commodity Trade Data-1999
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Site provides an alphabetical listing of U.S. trade partners with a direct link to trade data for each country by commodity. Contains import and export commodity data for all of the months that have been released for 1999.
  • http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/sitc1/1999/
• Trade Balances with Partner Countries
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Page uses a drop box for quick access to monthly figures for the current trade balance with over 200 countries and regions.
  • http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/jbal.html
• U.S. Trade Highlights
  • Type: report Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Site displays a graphic of U.S. imports, exports, and the trade balance for the last three years. Page also gives a summary of current trade statistics for goods and services, for goods by category, and for goods by geographic region.
  • http://www.census.gov/indicator/www/ustrade.html
• Profile of U.S. Exporters
  • Type: report Level: intermediate Length: medium Links: no Graphics: yes Other: pdf
  • A summary report (in pdf format) that gives a profile of U.S. exporting companies for 1996-1997. Page includes information about the number of exporters by firm size and industry.
  • http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/misc/edbrel-9697.pdf

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Alphabetical(9)

Global Index

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Reports and Statistics on Countries

• InfoNation
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • A very handy site from the United Nations (UN) allowing the user to easily view and compare statistical data for the Member States of the United Nations. Page provides an excellent source of data on the geography, economy, population, and social indicators for nearly 200 UN countries.
  • http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/infonation/e_infonation.htm
• Country Listing from The World Factbook 1998
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Site provides an alphabetized list of countries linking to detailed information about each country, including a map, its geography, population statistics, government, economy, and more.
  • http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/country.html
• Demography & Population Studies
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • A page for demographers but it contains numerous links to information about international markets through its links to virtual libraries, census information, data servers, and more.
  • http://coombs.anu.edu.au/ResFacilities/DemographyPage.html
• Penn World Tables
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Page contains a menu to retrieve subsets of the Penn World data, also known as the Summers-Heston data, after the 1991 paper by Robert Summers and Alan Heston in the Quarterly Journal of Economics.
  • http://www.nber.org/pwt56.html
• RRojas Databank
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: medium Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • An academic site promoting excellence in teaching and researching economics with links to electronic versions of publications and statistics along with access to major academic teaching resources.
  • http://www.rrojasdatabank.connectfree.co.uk/
• RFE World and Non-U.S. Data
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: long Links: yes Graphics: no
  • Page contains a long list of links to world data and resources for economists, including international organizations and links to resources in various countries and regions.
  • http://128.252.177.190/Data/World/index.html
• International Business Resource
  • Type: writing/list Level: basic Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Site from the University of Kansas provides a plethora of links to great resources on trade, individual country statistics, and more.
  • http://www.ibrc.bschool.ukans.edu/stats/stats.htm
• International Business Resources on the WWW
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Page from Michigan State University's Center for International Business Education and Research contains links to lots of resources for regional and country-specific information, articles, and more. Includes a useful internal search mechanism.
  • http://ciber.bus.msu.edu/busres.htm
• Statistics Canada
  • Type: writing/list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Site provides 1996 census information for Canada, educational resources, statistics on the economy, land, people, government, and more.
  • http://www.statcan.ca/start.html
• Economic and Financial Data for Mexico
  • Type: writing/list Level: basic Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: pdf
  • Site contains links to a wealth of information about Mexico's government and economy, including the government budget, trade balance, unemployment, GDP, prices, and economic forecasts. Files are downloadable as text, html, or excel format.
  • http://www.shcp.gob.mx/english/info/

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Alphabetical(9)

Global Index

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International Trade Organizations and Agreements

• NAFTA-Full Text
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: no
  • Site is a list of links to the full text of each part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
  • http://www-tech.mit.edu/Bulletins/nafta.html
• Doing Business with our NAFTA Partners
  • Type: publication Level: basic Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • A 1999 article in Smart Business discussing NAFTAs impact on the markets of the trading partners. Page also includes interesting links to detailed information to help businesses in areas such as finance, sales and marketing, human resources, and more.
  • http://www.office.com/smart/04051999.html
• NAFTA Agreement
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Site sponsored by the North American Forum includes links to a wealth of resources about international trade, NAFTA, and GATT, including a link to the text of the NAFTA agreement.
  • http://www.nafta.net/naftagre.htm
• NAFTAconnect
  • Type: writing/list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Site designed to provide information for connecting companies, organizations and individuals in the NAFTA marketplace by allowing users to find or publicize business opportunities.
  • http://www.naftaconnect.com/index.shtml
• Tracking U.S. Trade
  • Type: table Level: basic Length: medium Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Page provides a table of data for U.S. trade with Canada, Mexico, South Central America, the Western Hemisphere, and the rest of the world. Monthly figures for both imports and exports are reported in real dollars from 1996 to 1999.
  • http://lanic.utexas.edu/cswht/tradeindex/data/rlx.html
• World Trade Organization (WTO)
  • Type: writing/list Level: basic Length: medium Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Home page for the WTO with information about the organization, its resources, and lots of trade topics, including the environment, dispute settlement, and more.
  • http://www.wto.org/
• International Trade/Commercial Law Monitor
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: pdf
  • A long list of links to a wealth of information about treaties related to free trade and/or economic union. Includes information about the WTA, GATT, NAFTA, and the EU with links to the text of trade agreements, related publications, and much more.
  • http://www.jus.uio.no/lm/toc/x.00-free.trade.html
• International Trade and Business Reference Page
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Page links to a dictionary of trade and business terms, information about currencies and exchange rates, the text of the original GATT document, and more.
  • http://pacific.commerce.ubc.ca/trade/
• G8 Information Center
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Site from the University of Toronto provides links to G8 documents, news, and research with a mechanism to search the site by subject, country, or year.
  • http://utl2.library.utoronto.ca/www/g7/index.html

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Alphabetical(9)

Global Index

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Trade Policy Issues and Debate

• Domestic Costs of Sanctions
  • Type: report/table Level: intermediate Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • A Congressional Budget Office report that examines the size and nature of the domestic costs of sanctions on foreign commerce. It includes different types of sanctions and factors that limit their effectiveness.
  • http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=1133&sequence=0&from=1
• Antidumping Action
  • Type: report/table Level: intermediate Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • A Congressional Budget Office report examining international data on antidumping activity. The paper looks at trends, compares U.S. activity with that of other countries, and examines claims made by various participants in the debate over U.S. policy.
  • http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=439&sequence=0&from=1
• Free Trade for a Better America
  • Type: publication Level: basic Length: medium Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Page from Intellectual Capital containing an article making a case for free trade. Article outlines the benefits of trade and the perils of protectionism.
  • http://www.intellectualcapital.com/issues/issue85/item1951.asp
• NAFTA Math
  • Type: publication Level: basic Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Site from the on-line magazine Slate contains a 1997 article about how Labor Department reports of some U.S. job losses are attributed to NAFTA when the job losses have little or nothing to do with NAFTA. Page also links to related information about trade and includes both internal and external search engines.
  • http://www.slate.com/BestPolicy/97-07-12/BestPolicy.asp
• The Truth about Free Trade
  • Type: publication Level: basic Length: medium Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Page from Intellectual Capital containing an article making a case against free trade. Article outlines the costs of free trade and the perils of trade deficits.
  • http://www.intellectualcapital.com/issues/issue85/item1952.asp
• Institute for International Economics
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Home page for the Institute for International Economics provides information about the institute and its publications devoted to the study of international economic policy. Also includes links to related resources.
  • http://www.iie.com/

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Alphabetical(9)

Global Index

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Foreign Exchange Rates

• IMF Exchange Rates
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Site from the International Monetary Fund links to a comprehensive list of current exchange rate values. Page also links to IMF news, publications, and more.
  • http://www.imf.org/external/np/tre/sdr/sdr.htm
• World Currency Exchange Rates
  • Type: table/list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Page has an excellent graphic of current exchange rates with an easy menu for changing the base currency and the exchange amount.
  • http://www.rubicon.com/passport/currency/currency.html
• Foreign Exchange Rates-FRB of New York
  • Type: table Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Page provides a table of current 12 noon foreign exchange rates that are certified by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
  • http://www.ny.frb.org/pihome/statistics/forex12.shtml
• Foreign Currency Information
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Site from the Washington Post gives up-to-date currency exchange rates for regions of the world by clicking on a world map. Page also links to currency news, financial data, and other resources.
  • http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/stocks/currency.htm

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Alphabetical(9)

Global Index

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Currency Converters On-line

• OANDA Currency Converter
  • Type: writing Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Provides scroll bars for converting units of one currency into another for any day from January 1, 1990 to present, yielding the median, minimum, and maximum price for trades on the date selected. Page also links to other information and news on exchange rates.
  • http://www.oanda.com/converter/classic?user=pathfinder2
• Universal Currency Converter Services
  • Type: list Level: basic Length: long Links: yes Graphics: yes
  • Site contains links to lots of information and resources for currency conversion, including currency services for business travelers, importers and exporters, and Webmasters.
  • http://www.xe.net/map/
• Historical Currency Rate Summary
  • Type: table Level: basic Length: short Links: yes Graphics: yes Other: search
  • Page gives daily exchange rates from 1995 to the most recent month.
  • http://www.jeico.co.kr/cnc_old.html