Economic Research

The Australian Bureau of Statistics website can help you understand and use statistics to make informed decisions. Along with the free statistics, the site also provides related information and services on a wide range of eoncomic, social, and environmental matters.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international organization which fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks.

The BIS fulfills this mandate by acting as:

• a forum to promote discussion and policy analysis among central banks and within the international financial community
• a center for economic and monetary research
• a prime counterparty for central banks in their financial transactions
• agent or trustee in connection with international financial operations

The head office is in Basel, Switzerland and there are two representative offices in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and in Mexico City.

Established on May 17, 1930, the BIS is the world's oldest international financial organization.

As its customers are central banks and international organizsations, the BIS does not accept deposits from, or provide financial services to, private individuals or corporate entities. The BIS strongly advises caution against fraudulent schemes.

The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom. Sometimes known as the 'Old Lady' of Threadneedle Street, the Bank was founded in 1694, nationalised on 1 March 1946, and gained independence in 1997.

Standing at the centre of the UK's financial system, the Bank is committed to promoting and maintaining monetary and financial stability as its contribution to a healthy economy.

The Bank has two core purposes - monetary stability and financial stability. The Bank is perhaps most visible to the general public through its banknotes and, more recently, its interest rate decisions. The Bank has had a monopoly on the issue of banknotes in England and Wales since the early 20th century. But it is only since 1997 that the Bank has had statutory responsibility for setting the UK's official interest rate.

The Bank of Japan is the central bank of Japan. The Bank is often called Nichigin for short. It has its headquarters in Chuo, Tokyo.

The Bank of Japan was established under the Bank of Japan Act of June 1882 and began operating on October 10, 1882, as the nation's central bank. The Bank was reorganized on May 1, 1942 in conformity with the Bank of Japan Act of 1942.

The Act of 1942 was revised completely in June 1997 under the two principles of "independence" and "transparency."

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is an agency of the Department of Commerce.

BEA produces economic accounts statistics that enable government and business decision-makers, researchers, and the American public to follow and understand the performance of the Nation's economy. To do this, BEA collects source data, conducts research and analysis, develops and implements estimation methodologies, and disseminates statistics to the public.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is the source of some of our most important economic indicators including Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI).

The BLS is the principal fact-finding agency for the Federal Government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. The BLS is an independent national statistical agency that collects, processes, analyzes, and disseminates essential statistical data to the American public, the U.S. Congress, other Federal agencies, State and local governments, business, and labor. The BLS also serves as a statistical resource to the Department of Labor.

BLS data must satisfy a number of criteria, including relevance to current social and economic issues, timeliness in reflecting today’s rapidly changing economic conditions, accuracy and consistently high statistical quality, and impartiality in both subject matter and presentation.

Congress created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in 1974 as an independent agency with the mandate to regulate commodity futures and option markets in the United States. The agency's mandate has been renewed and expanded several times since then, most recently by the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000.

That Act instructed the Securities & Exchange Commission and the CFTC to develop a joint regulatory regime for single-stock futures, and the products subsequently began trading in November 2002. Today, the CFTC assures the economic utility of the futures markets by encouraging their competitiveness and efficiency, ensuring their integrity, protecting market participants against manipulation, abusive trading practices, and fraud, and ensuring the financial integrity of the clearing process. Through effective oversight, the CFTC enables the futures markets to serve the important function of providing a means for price discovery and offsetting price risk.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) charters, regulates, and supervises all national banks. It also supervises the federal branches and agencies of foreign banks.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the OCC has four district offices plus an office in London to supervise the international activities of national banks. National banks which offer retail or institutional Forex trading are subject to OCC regulations.

The OCC was established in 1863 as a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The OCC is headed by the Comptroller , who is appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a five-year term. The Comptroller also serves as a director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and a director of the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation.

The Dismal Scientist offers up-to-the-minute coverage of the world's economies. It provides data and analysis on daily economic events and long-term trends and topics. It also provides coverage of approximately 300 economic indicators.

Dismal Scientist has been the preferred resource for a generation of market participants, including bankers, CEOs, CFOs, credit risk managers, strategic planners, wealth managers, investors, academics, and government officials. Subscribers rely on Dismal Scientist to enhance their decision-making and to provide access to data.

Dismal Scientist is available in four editions: U.S./Canada, Europe, Asia/Pacific and Latin America. Both Barron's and Forbes have named Dismal Scientist the premier destination on the web for economic analysis.

The Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA) is the bureau within the U.S. Department of Commerce where economic and social changes are chronicled, understood, and explained.

ESA releases 12 monthly and quarterly Principal Federal Economic Indicators collected by its constituent bureaus: the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

Businesses rely heavily upon these indicators to make decisions every day. In their public comments, the Secretary and ESA’s Under Secretary and Chief Economist put the indicators into a national and global economic context.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is the institution of the European Union (EU) which administers the monetary policy of the 17 EU Eurozone member states. It is thus one of the world's most important central banks.

The bank was established by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998, and is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. The current President of the ECB is Mario Draghi, replacing Jean-Claude Trichet in November 2011.

The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) was created by the euro area member states following the decisions taken May 9, 2010 within the framework of the Ecofin Council.

As part of the overall rescue package of €750 billion, EFSF is able to issue bonds guaranteed by EAMS for up to € 440 billion for on-lending to EAMS in difficulty, subject to conditions negotiated with the European Commission in liaison with the European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund and to be approved by the Eurogroup.

EFSF has been assigned the best possible credit rating; AAA by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings, AAA by Moody’s.

EFSF is a Luxembourg-registered company owned by Euro Area Member States. It is headed by Klaus Regling, former Director-General for economic and financial affairs at the European Commission.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia helps formulate and implement monetary policy, supervises banks and bank holding companies, and provides financial services to depository institutions and the federal government.

The Survey of Professional Forecasters is the oldest quarterly survey of macroeconomic forecasts in the United States. The survey began in 1968 and was conducted by the American Statistical Association and the National Bureau of Economic Research. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia took over the survey in 1990.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.

Through its economic surveillance, the IMF keeps track of the economic health of its member countries, alerting them to risks on the horizon and providing policy advice. It also lends to countries in difficulty, and provides technical assistance and training to help countries improve economic management. This work is backed by IMF research and statistics.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) maintains a list of international regulatory authorities. Ordinary and associate membership lists include government regulators. Affiliate membership lists include exchanges and other self-regulatory organizations.

IOSCO receives investor alerts and warnings from its members about firms which are not authorized to provide investment services in the jurisdiction which issued the alert or warning. Some of the alerts or warnings are about unauthorized firms using names similar to those of authorized firms or about unauthorized firms falsely claiming to be associated with authorized firms.

Markit Economics is a specialist compiler of business surveys and economic indices, producing some of the world’s most closely watched economic indicators. Markit Economics data include the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) series, which is now available for 26 countries and key regions including the Eurozone and BRIC as well as by detailed sector.

Markit Economics data releases are closely watched by fixed income, equity and currency traders and move markets due to their accuracy in anticipating official economic data and their use by central banks in the setting of interest rates.

Markit Economics data also help analysts in investment portfolio allocation, economic forecasting and equity earnings estimates. Corporate decision-makers also use PMI reports to improve business efficiency and in their benchmarking and planning.

In addition to the PMIs, Markit Economics also produces original survey data on employment, cash flow, profits and marketing trends. Data and reports are available on subscription directly from Markit or via licensed distributors, including Reuters, Datastream and others.

The National Futures Association (NFA) is an independent self-regulatory non-profit organization that regulates the futures market. The NFA began operating in 1982.

Through the implementation and enforcement of regulatory programs, the NFA protects investors from fraudulent futures activities. It also provides arbitration and mediation services for resolving investor complaints. Since the NFA is independent, its regulations are unbiased towards any one member.

The National Introducing Brokers Association (NIBA) was established in 1991. The NIBA is one of the foremost, nationally recognized organizations representing professionals in the futures and options industry.

NIBA members include Introducing Brokers, Commodity Trading Advisors, Futures and Options Exchanges, Futures Commissions Merchants and resource providers to the industry.

The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. Our mission is to fight poverty with passion and professionalism for lasting results and to help people help themselves and their environment by providing resources, sharing knowledge, building capacity and forging partnerships in the public and private sectors.

The World Bank is not a bank in the common sense; it is made up of two unique development institutions owned by 187 member countries: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA).

Each institution plays a different but collaborative role in advancing the vision of inclusive and sustainable globalization. The IBRD aims to reduce poverty in middle-income and creditworthy poorer countries, while IDA focuses on the world's poorest countries.

The United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census as defined in Title 13 U.S.C. § 11) is a part of the United States Department of Commerce.

It is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census.

The Census Bureau also publishes comprehensive economic indicators data.

The mission of the U.S. Department of Commerce is to "promote job creation and improved living standards for all Americans by creating an infrastructure that promotes economic growth, technological competitiveness, and sustainable development."

Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for business and government decision-making, issuing patents and trademarks, and helping to set industrial standards.

The mission of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.

The SEC is responsible for implementing a series of regulatory initiatives required under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.