Summary

The fourth edition of Economic Indicators is fundamentally revised, updated, and expanded. It covers the most recent comprehensive revisions of the national accounts in South Africa, the consumer price index, the producer price index, various labor market surveys, and government finance statistics. Each chapter contains more information than before, for example, on business cycles, money, credit and interest rates, budget deficits, foreign debt, units of measurement, as well as various technical aspects, such as the previous-year comparison error, data revisions, and the calculation of growth rates. A new section examines the impact of economic indicators on the financial markets, and a number of political and politico-economic indicators have been added. New segments include one on important international economic indicators, another on the indicators that are examined by the South African Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Committee when deciding on interest rates, another on the Baltic Dry Index, and even one to prove that the experts can also sometimes get it wrong. All the data that are used to illustrate and explain the various indicators have been updated and, as always, a wealth of data on the South African economy is provided. The book is an indispensable reference source for a variety of professionals, including economists, financial analysts, accountants, lawyers, industrial relations specialists, brokers, dealers, political scientists, and development specialists. Last, but by no means least, the book is informative and accessible to interested lay people.