International Economic Indicators and Central Banks

332 Pages·2007·3.3 MB·English

by  Anne Dolganos Picker

International
Economic
Indicators and
Central Banks
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons is the oldest independent publishing
company in the United States. With offices in North America, Europe,
AustraliaandAsia,Wileyisgloballycommittedtodevelopingandmarketing
print and electronic products and services for our customers’ professional
andpersonalknowledgeandunderstanding.
TheWileyFinanceseriescontainsbookswrittenspecificallyforfinance
and investment professionals as well as sophisticated individual investors
and their financial advisors. Book topics range from portfolio manage-
menttoe-commerce,riskmanagement,financialengineering,valuationand
financialinstrumentanalysis,aswellasmuchmore.
Foralistofavailabletitles,pleasevisitourWebsiteat
www.WileyFinance.com.
International
Economic
Indicators and
Central Banks
ANNE DOLGANOS PICKER
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Copyright(cid:1)c 2007byAnneDolganosPicker.Allrightsreserved.
PublishedbyJohnWiley&Sons,Inc.,Hoboken,NewJersey.
PublishedsimultaneouslyinCanada.
Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedin
anyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,scanning,or
otherwise,exceptaspermittedunderSection107or108ofthe1976UnitedStatesCopyright
Act,withouteitherthepriorwrittenpermissionofthePublisher,orauthorizationthrough
paymentoftheappropriateper-copyfeetotheCopyrightClearanceCenter,Inc.,222
RosewoodDrive,Danvers,MA01923,[phone],fax[phone],orontheWeb
atwww.copyright.com.RequeststothePublisherforpermissionshouldbeaddressedtothe
PermissionsDepartment,JohnWiley&Sons,Inc.,111RiverStreet,Hoboken,NJ07030,
[phone],fax[phone],oronlineathttp://www.wiley.com/go/permission.
LimitofLiability/DisclaimerofWarranty:Whilethepublisherandauthorhaveusedtheir
besteffortsinpreparingthisbook,theymakenorepresentationsorwarrantieswithrespectto
theaccuracyorcompletenessofthecontentsofthisbookandspecificallydisclaimanyimplied
warrantiesofmerchantabilityorfitnessforaparticularpurpose.Nowarrantymaybecreated
orextendedbysalesrepresentativesorwrittensalesmaterials.Theadviceandstrategies
containedhereinmaynotbesuitableforyoursituation.Youshouldconsultwitha
professionalwhereappropriate.Neitherthepublishernorauthorshallbeliableforanylossof
profitoranyothercommercialdamages,includingbutnotlimitedtospecial,incidental,
consequential,orotherdamages.
Forgeneralinformationonourotherproductsandservicesorfortechnicalsupport,please
contactourCustomerCareDepartmentwithintheUnitedStatesat(800)762-2974,outside
theUnitedStatesat(317)572-3993orfax(317)572-4002.
Wileyalsopublishesitsbooksinavarietyofelectronicbooks.Somecontentthatappearsin
printmaynotbeavailableinelectronicformats.FormoreinformationaboutWileyproducts,
visitourWebsiteatwww.wiley.com.
StatisticsCanadainformationisusedwiththepermissionofStatisticsCanada.Usersare
forbiddentocopythedataandredisseminatethem,inanoriginalormodifiedform,for
commercialpurposes,withoutpermissionfromStatisticsCanada.Informationonthe
availabilityofthewiderangeofdatafromStatisticsCanadacanbeobtainedfromStatistics
Canada’sRegionalOffices,itsWorldWideWebsiteathttp://www.statcan.ca,anditstoll-free
accessnumber1-800-263-1136.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData:
Picker,AnneDolganos,1936–
Internationaleconomicindicatorsandcentralbanks/AnneDolganosPicker.
p.cm.—(Wileyfinanceseries)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13:978-0-471-75113-7(cloth)
ISBN-10:0-471-75113-8(cloth)
1.Economicforecasting.2.Economicindicators.3.Investments—Decision
making.4.Banksandbanking,Central.I.Title.
HB3730.P5152007
330.01(cid:2)5195—dc22
2006025756
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
10987654321
To Hope
My daughter and number one fan

Contents
ListofIllustrations ix
ListofTables xiii
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xix
ABriefIntroductiontotheFinancialMarkets xxi
AbouttheAuthor xxxiii
PARTONE
CentralBanks
CHAPTER1
AnOverviewofCentralBanks 3
CHAPTER2
BankofEngland 15
CHAPTER3
EuropeanUnionandtheEuropeanCentralBank 34
CHAPTER4
BankofJapan 54
CHAPTER5
BankofCanada 67
CHAPTER6
ReserveBankofAustralia 81
vii
viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER7
People’sBankofChina 92
PARTTWO
EconomicIndicators
CHAPTER8
AnOverviewofInternationalEconomicIndicators 99
CHAPTER9
EuropeanIndicators:EurostatandNationalStatistics 132
CHAPTER10
UKIndicators 179
CHAPTER11
JapaneseIndicators 201
CHAPTER12
CanadianIndicators 220
CHAPTER13
AustralianIndicators 236
CHAPTER14
ChineseIndicators 250
AppendixA:KeyIndicatorsbyCountryandIssuingAgencies 258
AppendixB:NationalIncomeandProductAccountsvs.Systemof
NationalAccounts 262
AppendixC:IndustrialClassificationSystems 266
Glossary 269
Bibliography 275
Index 285
List of Illustrations
Figure2.1 BankofEngland’sPolicyInterestRate 21
Figure2.2 ConsumerPriceIndexandRetailPriceIndex
ExcludingMortgageInterestPayments 23
Figure2.3 AverageEarnings 24
Figure2.4 HalifaxHousePrices 26
Figure2.5 PoundSterlingandtheU.S.Dollar 31
Figure2.6 UKandEMUGrossDomesticProduct 32
Figure2.7 BankofEnglandandEuropeanCentralBank
InterestRates 32
Figure3.1 ECBPolicyInterestRate 50
Figure3.2 M3MoneySupplyandHarmonizedIndexof
ConsumerPrices 51
Figure4.1 YenperU.S.Dollar 57
Figure4.2 TheNikkei 58
Figure4.3 BankofJapanDiscountRate 63
Figure5.1 TheConsumerPriceIndexandtheBankofCanada
CoreRate 70
Figure5.2 BankofCanadaandFederalReserveTargetInterest
Rates 72
Figure5.3 CanadianDollarandtheU.S.Dollar 77
Figure6.1 ConsumerPriceIndex 84
Figure6.2 ReserveBankofAustraliaandFederalReserve
TargetInterestRates 86
Figure7.1 People’sBankofChinaPrimeLendingInterestRate 95
Figure8.1 Germany—AComparisonofTwoUnemployment
Rates 103
Figure8.2 UK—TwoMeasuresofConsumerPrices 104
Figure8.3 GroupofSevenGDPGrowthin2005 117
Figure8.4 UnemploymentintheEMUCountriesPlustheU.S.,
Japan,andAustralia 125
Figure9.1 GDPintheEMUPlustheU.S.andJapan 135
Figure9.2 HarmonizedIndexofConsumerPricesforthe12
EMUCountries 139
Figure9.3 ProducerPricesforthe12EMUCountries 141
Figure9.4 UnemploymentRateforthe12EMUCountries 143
ix