International Economic Indicators and Central Banks (Wiley Finance)
by Anne Dolganos Picker
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List Price: $70.00
Our Price: $34.90
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Manufacturer: Wiley
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 330.015195
EAN: 9780471751137
ISBN: 0471751138
Label: Wiley
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 295
Publication Date: 2007-02-09
Publisher: Wiley
Studio: Wiley
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: essentially a reference book
Comment: This book is basically a catalog of the major non-U.S. central banks, the statistics they publish, the calendar on which each one publishes, some of the quirks associated with their statistics, and in some cases, which numbers are of particular importance to traders in the international bond and currency markets.
Despite some discussion in the introduction and on the book jacket about how this information would be of use to a typical investor, there is essentially nothing of that sort in the book. In a few places, after describing German producer price indices, for example, Picker offers something lame like "this might help you decide whether or not the economy is growing before you invest."
The book will be of use to those already familiar with the statistics it covers but who are branching out to new markets and who need to know, for example, the weaknesses in Spanish inflation measuring, as compared to Germany. The discussion of chained GDP vs. traditional base-year-GDP comparisons was useful.
Not a bad book, but not something anybody would want to read cover to cover.
Customer Rating:
Summary: For anyone with the need or interest to understand how international central banks work
Comment: If you need to understand how central banks function in the major economic markets around the world (European Union, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Canada, and China), this book is for you. You might invest in overseas markets, your company might be working with overseas partners or considering expansion to new markets, or you might simply be interested in better understanding the economic events you read in the news. For us, Anne Dolganos Picker has done a wonderful service with this book.
In the first part of the book (the first seven chapters), she gives us an overview of central banks in the world today and then a specific chapter on each of the six central banks being discussed. We learn a bit about their history, their independence (or not), their transparency (or not), what they have been charged with doing (price stability or currency valuation or whatever - they are not all the same), if their objectives have been changed over time, and their track record over time in achieving those objectives.
The second part of the book looks at the economic indicators used by those various central banks in making their decisions and if those indicators are available to the public, by subscription, or not at all (China being the most closed). The United Kingdom is the most open while others are open or closed to mixed degrees. It is important to understand what these banks are tasked with doing, what their favored indicators are in order to try and get a feel for what actions they are likely to take.
Another reason to learn about these indicators is that even measures with the same names such as GDP or CPI are defined differently in different countries. For example, the unemployment rate in Germany is reported two ways, by the way the Germans measure it and by the European standard. This is because the country and the EU define employment differently. Base years for these measurements are not synchronized around the world, either. This can make comparability of changes in these measures difficult to compare without careful adjustment.
I found the book fascinating and was pleased with how clearly the author wrote the book. This subject could have easily melted down into impossible to understand jargon, but she kept it surprisingly lively. Appendix A is a terrific list of the key indicators by country and the issuing agency for each indicator (and if they are available on the web). Appendix B compares the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) used by the United States versus the System of National Accounts (SNA) used in most other countries. Appendix C discusses the various Industrial Classification Systems (which have a big impact on the usability of certain manufacturing and labor statistics and for comparison across nations). And there is a very useful glossary and index.
This is a terrific book and I am glad to have it on my shelf and expect to refer to it with regularity.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: essentially a reference book
Comment: This book is basically a catalog of the major non-U.S. central banks, the statistics they publish, the calendar on which each one publishes, some of the quirks associated with their statistics, and in some cases, which numbers are of particular importance to traders in the international bond and currency markets.
Despite some discussion in the introduction and on the book jacket about how this information would be of use to a typical investor, there is essentially nothing of that sort in the book. In a few places, after describing German producer price indices, for example, Picker offers something lame like "this might help you decide whether or not the economy is growing before you invest."
The book will be of use to those already familiar with the statistics it covers but who are branching out to new markets and who need to know, for example, the weaknesses in Spanish inflation measuring, as compared to Germany. The discussion of chained GDP vs. traditional base-year-GDP comparisons was useful.
Not a bad book, but not something anybody would want to read cover to cover.
Customer Rating:
Summary: For anyone with the need or interest to understand how international central banks work
Comment: If you need to understand how central banks function in the major economic markets around the world (European Union, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Canada, and China), this book is for you. You might invest in overseas markets, your company might be working with overseas partners or considering expansion to new markets, or you might simply be interested in better understanding the economic events you read in the news. For us, Anne Dolganos Picker has done a wonderful service with this book.
In the first part of the book (the first seven chapters), she gives us an overview of central banks in the world today and then a specific chapter on each of the six central banks being discussed. We learn a bit about their history, their independence (or not), their transparency (or not), what they have been charged with doing (price stability or currency valuation or whatever - they are not all the same), if their objectives have been changed over time, and their track record over time in achieving those objectives.
The second part of the book looks at the economic indicators used by those various central banks in making their decisions and if those indicators are available to the public, by subscription, or not at all (China being the most closed). The United Kingdom is the most open while others are open or closed to mixed degrees. It is important to understand what these banks are tasked with doing, what their favored indicators are in order to try and get a feel for what actions they are likely to take.
Another reason to learn about these indicators is that even measures with the same names such as GDP or CPI are defined differently in different countries. For example, the unemployment rate in Germany is reported two ways, by the way the Germans measure it and by the European standard. This is because the country and the EU define employment differently. Base years for these measurements are not synchronized around the world, either. This can make comparability of changes in these measures difficult to compare without careful adjustment.
I found the book fascinating and was pleased with how clearly the author wrote the book. This subject could have easily melted down into impossible to understand jargon, but she kept it surprisingly lively. Appendix A is a terrific list of the key indicators by country and the issuing agency for each indicator (and if they are available on the web). Appendix B compares the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) used by the United States versus the System of National Accounts (SNA) used in most other countries. Appendix C discusses the various Industrial Classification Systems (which have a big impact on the usability of certain manufacturing and labor statistics and for comparison across nations). And there is a very useful glossary and index.
This is a terrific book and I am glad to have it on my shelf and expect to refer to it with regularity.
Praise for International Economic Indicators and Central Banks
"Anne Picker's International Economic Indicators and Central Banks is a tour de force. It brings together a wealth of information, explanation, and guidance, which has hitherto only been available from disparate and frequently obscure sources, and does so with great clarity and authority. It will be an invaluable resource not only for investors but for all others involved in the fields of finance and economics."
--Donald R. Anderson, OBE FRSE (UK), International Economics Advisor, formerly chief economist, Courtaulds Group
"Picker's book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to the workings of key central banks, and to the economic data that informs their thinking and policy formation. The book should be required reading for those with more than a passing interest in financial markets and monetary policy formation."
--George Worthington, Chief Economist, Asia Pacific, Thomson-IFR (Australia)
"International Economic Indicators and Central Banks is an invaluable guide for anyone doing business overseas or investing in international markets. It is thorough and precise enough for professional economists yet readily accessible to business people and investors. Anne Picker is not only an excellent communicator who demystifies central bank operations and technical economic indicators; she is also a top-notch economist with extensive experience in analyzing them. Don't read any international economic analysis without this volume close at hand."
--David A. Levy, Chairman, The Jerome Levy Forecasting Center
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