International Economic Indicators and Central Banks - Hardcover

by Anne Dolganos Picker (Author)

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

Front Jacket

Whether you're doing business overseas or seeking to diversify your portfolio through international investments, tracking global economic events as they occur is essential. One of the smartest ways to do this is by following the movement of international economic indicators and understanding how the decisions of foreign central banks can affect market behavior.

Author Anne Dolganos Picker is an international economist who began monitoring global market conditions long before it became fashionable. She's familiar with the investment implications of international indicators and central banks, and now, with this book, she provides insightful analysis that will help you make more informed investment decisions as you venture into foreign markets.

Divided into two comprehensive parts, International Economic Indicators and Central Banks offers detailed coverage of the primary indicators that major industrial countries--from Canada, China, Japan, and Australia to Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom--use to evaluate economic performance, and examines how their central banks create and carry out monetary policy. The European Monetary Union is also included in this discussion, since it is the umbrella organization for the three European countries covered here.

International Economic Indicators and Central Banks opens with a brief description of the bond, stock, and foreign exchange markets--since this is where investors respond to the news of central bank activities and the direction of economic indicators. Following this market introduction, Part I moves on to provide you with an eye-opening overview of central bank functions, and then hones in on the individual central banks of the countries previously mentioned. Here, you'll discover how these central banks operate, and why they influence economies and your investments.

Part II of the book deals with the nitty-gritty of market-moving international economic indicators--from where to find them and what they mean to when they're released. With each chapter devoted to a different country, you'll become familiar with indicators that are reliable gauges of a country's economic growth and discover how similar indicators may differ across geographical borders. Some of the indicators addressed include the United Kingdom's Gross Domestic Product statistics, Canada's Labour Force Survey (LFS), and Japan's Tankan Survey.

If you're not an economist, interpreting economic data and news can seem daunting. But with International Economic Indicators and Central Banks as your guide, you'll quickly learn how to do this and much more as you search for potentially profitable investment opportunities around the world.

Back Jacket

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

Author Biography

ANNE DOLGANOS PICKER, MBA, is Econoday Online's Chief Economist, specializing in international economics. By observing the major international economic indicators and central bank activities and then applying them to financial market events, she provides insightful analysis of the Group of Seven countries and the European Monetary Union for Econoday readers. Besides her weekly International Perspective article, she also contributes a monthly article to the short take features. Picker is an integral part of the strategic planning team at Econoday for both U.S. and international product development. She also teaches an online course on Issues in Global Investing for the University of Illinois at Chicago MBA program.