U.S. / Global Economy & Business Environment

This section focuses on the Library’s resources and selected resources from the Web that will help you to understand the global business environment, including country information and international trade.

For more specific information related to global companies and industries, as well as international economics and marketing, consult the Company, Industry, Finance – Economic Data, and Marketing sections of this research guide.

U.S. Economy and Business Environment

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Papers Founded in 1920, the National Bureau of Economic Research is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of how the economy works. The NBER is committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research in a scientific manner, and without policy recommendations, among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community.
Bloomberg
Statista Provides immediate access to over one million statistics and facts.
ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States See sections 13 & 14 on Income, Expenditures, Poverty, and Wealth & Pricing.
IBISWorld Contains hundreds of industry analysis reports, both current and historical, with economic, demographic, and government information compiled by economists and industry experts and features Industry Research Reports, Industry Risk Rating Reports, Global Industry Research Reports, and Business Environment Report
Federal Reserve Bank: Economic Research (FRED) Download, graph, and track 240000 economic time series from 76 sources.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: Beige Book Anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its District through reports from Bank and Branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources. The Beige Book summarizes this information by District and sector. An overall summary of the twelve district reports is prepared by a designated Federal Reserve Bank on a rotating basis.
U.S. Department of Commerce: Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Source of US economic statistics including national income and product accounts (NIPAs), gross domestic product & more.
U.S. Department of Labor: Bureau of Labor Statistics Contains snapshots of national (and sometimes state and regional) data for more than 100 industries, organized by NAICS.
U.S. Government Publishing Office: Economic Indicators Available from April 1995 forward, this monthly publication provides economic information on gross domestic product, income, employment, production, business activity, prices, money, credit, security markets, Federal finance, and international statistics.
EconData.net 1,000 links to socioeconomic data sources, arranged by subject and provider, pointers to the Web’s premiere data collections, and our own list of the ten best sites for finding regional economic data.
USA.gov Full range of official statistical information produced by the Federal Government without having to know in advance which Federal agency produces which particular statistic. With convenient searching and linking capabilities to more than 100 agencies that provide data and trend information on such topics as economic and population trends, crime, education, health care, aviation safety, energy use, farm production and more, FedStats is your one location for access to the full breadth of Federal statistical information.
Levy Economics Institute of Bard College The Levy Institute disseminates its findings through publications, conferences, workshops, seminars, congressional testimony, and other activities to an international audience of public officials, private sector executives, academics, and the general public.

Global Economy and Business Environment

ProQuest Statistical Abstracts of the U.S. – Foreign Commerce and Aid International Transactions By Type; Balances On International Transactions By Area And Selected Country; U.S. Government Reserve Assets; U.S. International Investment Position By Type Of Investment; International Service Transactions By Selected Type Of Service And Selected Country; Foreign Direct Investment Position In The United States On A Historical-Cost Basis; U.S. Majority-Owned Affiliates Of Foreign Companies-Selected Financial And Operating Data By Industry Of Affiliate; Employment Of Majority-Owned U.S. Affiliates Of Foreign Companies By State; U.S. Direct Investment Position Abroad, Capital Outflows, And Income By Industry Of Foreign Affiliates; International Trade In Goods And Services; U.S. Exports And General Imports Of Merchandise By Customs District; Exports, Imports, And Trade Balance By Country.
Statista Over one million statistics available. Type a country, subject, or industry into the search bar.
Bloomberg
globalEDGE (Michigan State University) International business & trade info on over 200 countries, 50 U.S. states, as well as nearly 2 dozen industry sectors & many of the world’s trade blocs.
Export.gov (U.S. Commercial Service) Includes: Country Commercial Guides, Market Intelligence, & more.
Index of Economic Freedom Ranks 185 countries by the extent of government involvement in the economy.
Pew Global Attitudes Project Allows users to explore public opinion trends in 55 countries on topics ranging from attitudes toward the U.S. to people’s assessments of their own lives to views about globalization, democratization, extremism and other important issues.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Country information and economic statistics. See also: OECD iLibrary.
U.S. Department of Labor – Bureau of Labor Statistics International Labor Comparisons Data used to assess U.S. economic and labor market performance relative to that of other countries & to evaluate the competitive position of the United States in increasingly global markets.
World Bank: Doing Business Report Series The Doing Business report series includes annual reports going back to 2004, a wide variety of subnational studies, and a number of special reports dealing with regions or topics. Use the tabs to read report summaries and to download. Additional country and regional reports can be downloaded.
World Bank: Data and Research The Development Economics Group Vice Presidency (DEC) seeks to increase understanding of development policies and programs by providing intellectual leadership and analytical services to the Bank and the development community.
World Bank: Open Knowledge Repository Over 18,000 resources on global policies, country info, economic and business info, and more.
World Bank: International Debt Statistics Focuses on financial flows, trends in external debt, and other major financial indicators for developing and advanced economies (data from Quarterly External Debt Statistics and Quarterly Public Sector Debt databases). Includes over 200 time series indicators from 1970 to 2013, for most reporting countries, and pipeline data for scheduled debt service payments on existing commitments to 2022.
World Bank: World Development Report The World Bank’s annual World Development Report provides a wide international readership with an extraordinary window on development economics. Each year, the report focuses on a specific aspect of development.
World Bank: World Development Indicators The primary World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially-recognized international sources. It presents the most current and accurate global development data available, and includes national, regional and global estimates.
World Bank: The Little Data Book 2016 It is intended as a quick reference for users of the World Development Indicators database, book, and mobile app. The Little Data Book 2014 contains 55 key development indicators such as population and population growth, GNI, GDP, GDP growth, exports and imports, and gross capital formation, deforestation, water use, energy use and electricity use per capita; and more.
World Bank: The Little Data Book on Private Sector Development 2016 The Little Data Book on Private Sector Development is a pocket-sized book providing data for more than 40 key indicators on business environment and private sector development in a single page for each of the World Bank member countries and other economies with populations of more than 30,000.
European Commission Eurostat: Your key to European statistics Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union situated in Luxembourg. Its task is to provide the European Union with statistics at European level that enable comparisons between countries and regions.
International Monetary Fund The IMF publishes a range of time series data on IMF lending, exchange rates and other economic and financial indicators. Manuals, guides, and other material on statistical practices at the IMF, in member countries, and of the statistical community at large are also available. See International Financial Statistics (IFS) and Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics.
United Nations Data This site brings UN statistical databases within easy reach of users through a single entry point. Users can now search and download a variety of statistical resources of the UN system.
UNESCO Institute for Statistics The primary source for cross-nationally comparable statistics on education, science and technology, culture, and communication for more than 200 countries and territories.
ILOSTAT: The World’s Leading Source on Labour Statistics View and download data and metadata for over 200 countries or territories.
World Trade Organization Statistics Database The WTO’s databases and publications provide extensive access to trade and tariff data.
International Statistics Compare countries on just about anything!

Trends and Forecasting

Industry Forecasts

Statista Statistical data from market researchers, trade organizations, scientific journals, and government databases.
IBISWorld Contains hundreds of industry analysis reports, both current and historical, with economic, demographic, and government information compiled by economists and industry experts and features Industry Research Reports, Industry Risk Rating Reports, Global Industry Research Reports, and Business Environment Report.
NetAdvantage Features Standard & Poor’s market investment news, including market snapshot, company quote, equity indexes page, the Outlook’s market insight, S & P stock picks and pans, economic calendar, economic insight, industry in focus, and Stovall’s sector watch.

Budget & Economic Data

Congressional Budget Office – The Budget and Economic Outlook Fiscal Years 2013-2023 Independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process.
International Monetary Fund The IMF publishes a range of time series data on IMF lending, exchange rates and other economic and financial indicators. Manuals, guides, and other material on statistical practices at the IMF, in member countries, and of the statistical community at large are also available.

Global Trends & Outlooks

Pew Research Global Attitudes Project Public opinion surveys around the world on a broad array of subjects ranging from people’s assessments of their own lives to their views about the current state of the world & important issues of the day. Nearly 400,000 interviews in 63 countries have been conducted as part of the project’s work.
The Conference Board Business cycles, consumer measures, CEO confidence data, corporate intelligence, economic data/analysis, global economic outlook, insights from economists, labor market info & more.
United Nations World Economic Situation & Prospects UN’s report on the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2016.
U.S. Energy Information Administration: International Energy Outlook Report on the international energy outlook for 2017, including info and projections on Petroleum, Coal, Natural Gas, Renewable, Nuclear, Electricity, Consumption & more.
National Intelligence Council: Global Trends Individuals from scores of countries and walks of life have helped the NIC examine trends—including economics, demography, ecology, energy, health, governance, security, identity, and geopolitics—and understand their implications for peace, security, and prosperity worldwide.
World Bank: Documents & Reports Documents and Reports is a collection of more than 195,685 World Bank operational documents and working papers available in .pdf and OCR text format.
World Bank: Open Knowledge Repository Over 18,000 resources on global policies, country info, economic and business info, and more.
World Bank: Indicators Group The World Bank’s Indicators Group produces following major indicator and data sets. Use the links below to access our major data products and the links to the right to access other related resources.
Congressional Research Service Provides reports for Congress, type your topic into the search bar.

Country Information

Business Source Complete Featuring Country Profiles from MarketLine: In-depth PESTLE insights (political, economical, social, technological, legal, environmental). Published yearly. Search the following within Business Source Complete: “Country Name Country Profile”— include quotes. ex. “Argentina Country Profile”. You can also search for Country reviews in the same way (ex: “Argentina Country Review”).
Britannica Online Contains many encyclopedia entries about countries.
Statista Contains many encyclopedia entries about countries.
Index Mundi Compilation of data from CIA World Factbook, IMF and others. Useful historical statistical graphs for such things as inflation rate, commodity prices, etc.
BBC Country Profiles Full profiles provide an instant guide to history, politics and economic background of countries and territories, and background on key institutions.
Library of Congress Country Studies The Country Studies Series presents a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world.
CIA: World Factbook Provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities. Our Reference tab includes: maps of the major world regions, as well as Flags of the World, a Physical Map of the World, a Political Map of the World, a World Oceans map, and a Standard Time Zones of the World map.
World Bank: Indicators Group The World Bank’s Indicators Group produces following major indicator and data sets. Use the links below to access our major data products and the links to the right to access other related resources. See World Development Indicators.
Export.gov (U.S. Commercial Service) Includes: Country Commercial Guides, Market Intelligence, & more.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Country information and economic statistics. See also OECDiLibrary.
UNESCO Institute for Statistics The primary source for cross-nationally comparable statistics on education, science and technology, culture, and communication for more than 200 countries and territories.
Governments on the WWW Comprehensive database of governmental institutions on the Web: parliaments, ministries, offices, law courts, embassies, city councils, public broadcasting corporations, central banks, multi-governmental institutions etc. Includes also political parties. Online since June 1995. Contains more than 17000 entries from more than 220 countries and territories as of June 2002.
U.S. Department of State: Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets Includes facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations of independent states.
International Monetary Fund Country Information An organization of 189 countries working to foster global monetary cooperation.

International Trade

International Trade & Economic Data

BusinessUSA: Country Trade Leads Portal Type in a country name to find trade leads, research, and other resources related to exporting to the selected country.
globalEDGE (Michigan State University) International business & trade info on over 200 countries, 50 U.S. states, as well as nearly 2 dozen industry sectors & many of the world’s trade blocs.
Congressional Research Service Provides reports for Congress, type your topic into the search bar.
U.S. Census Bureau: Foreign Trade FOREIGN TRADE is the official source for U.S. export and import statistics and responsible for issuing regulations governing the reporting of all export shipments from the United States. If you’re searching for import or export statistics, information on export regulations, commodity classifications, or a host of other trade related topics, this is the place to get the information you need.
U.S. Department of Commerce: International Trade Administration Information about U.S. Federal Government export assistance programs, general export counseling, and country and regional market information.
Export.gov (U.S. Commercial Service) Includes: Country Commercial Guides, Market Intelligence, & more.
Direction of Trade Statistics Provided by the International Monetary Fund “Presents the value of merchandise exports and imports disaggregated according to a country’s primary trading partners.”
United Nations Comtrade Database Free access to detailed global trade data. UN Comtrade is a repository of official trade statistics and relevant analytical tables. It contains annual trade statistics starting from 1962 and monthly trade statistics since 2010.
World Bank: Global Preferential Trade Agreements Database Provides information on preferential trade agreements (PTAs) around the world, including agreements that have not been notified to the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is designed to help trade policy makers, scholars, and business operators better understand and navigate the world of PTAs. The database was developed jointly by the World Bank and the Center for International Business.
World Trade Organization Statistics Database The WTO’s databases and publications provide extensive access to trade and tariff data.
International Trade Centre Market analysis tools, market info, sector info, trade info, and country/territory profiles.
International Trade Compliance Institute Covers all aspects of the international trade process & the entire gamut of U.S., foreign, & multilateral trade laws/regulations. See the Export Start-Up Kit for export readiness assessment and tools of the trade; the Trade Information Database with nearly 1,000 deep links to trade-related information in 12 broad categories and 74 subcategories; the FAQ Database with over 1,000 authoritative FAQs across all these areas; and the Regulatory Database with hundreds of regulatory terms/acronyms, laws/regulations, treaties/agreements, documents, and regulatory bodies.
International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development International trade and sustainable development resources and news.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Fact Sheets
U.S. Department of Agriculture: National Agricultural Library (AGRICOLA) Info on Animals/Livestock, Food & Human Nutrition, Laws & Regulations, Marketing & Trade, Natural Resources/Environment, Rural Development, Visual Arts \&Agricultural History.

Associations

U.S. Chamber of Commerce: International Affairs Division The U.S. Chamber’s International Affairs Division advocates for free enterprise, competitive markets, and rules-based trade and investment. Site includes info on various related issues.
International Chamber of Commerce ICC provides a forum for businesses and other organizations to examine and better comprehend the nature and significance of the major shifts taking place in the world economy.
Federation of International Trade Associations Source for international import export trade leads, events, and links to 8,000 international trade (export/import) related Websites.