Almost every day, new
economic information is made available tp us through the newspapers and other media. From
this data the government is praised or criticized by politicians, fortunes are made or
lost on the stock market, business decisions are made and union officials try to predict
the financial future for their members.
Interpreting the Economy
describes the indicators and shows how they should be interpreted and can be manipulated.
It discusses how we can all learn to isolate what is important, cut through the packaging,
tell the difference between irrelevant blips and significant trends, and thus gain genuine
insight into what is happening - and is likely to happen - in the real world.
This is an excellent account
of the key macro-economic indicators that underpin economic management and monetary
policy. I recommend it to anyone that needs to understand what the statistics measure and
how they may be interpreted' Tim Holt, Head of the Government Statistical Service
'Figures, figures everywhere,
nor one to help us think. Statistics are thrown at us everyday in newspapers and on
television. But how should we interpret them? Simon Briscoe's book is an invaluable guide
to helping us think about the meaning of all these figures' Mervyn King, Deputy Governor,
Bank of England