ECO201: Foreign Economy Report Project (Prof. London)

1) Start with the CIA's World Factbook for background, trade and economic information, Gini coefficient (income distribution), current issues.

• Most questions are answered though this site. See Country Summary PDFs for quick overview. 

Citations: Free government websites usually do not offer citations. Create your own; see the "I. Works Cited" box on this page for help.

2) globalEDGE (Michigan State University)

• Click on your country's listing.
• Left column: see History, Statistics, Risk, "Memo," etc.  
• Country Comparator feature compares your country with the United States. 

4) World economic data: 

3) This encyclopedia database offers historical information about countries: 

Use these to browse for news articles about your country. 

Use Advanced Search in these databases.

• Limit to most recent years.
• Search ideas are listed below.
• These library databases offer citations. 
• ProQuest offers Country Economic Forecasts from Oxford University. 
  • Search for "Country Economic Forecasts" AND [your country]
  • You could also search for [country] AND outlook or forecast

[Your country] AND

• "economic forecast*" 
• Coronavirus OR COVID-19 OR pandemic
• econom*
• recession
• "economic expansion" OR "economic growth"
• "business cycles"
• "government policy"
• political
• financial
• inflation
• immigra*
• touris*
• employment
• "international economic relations"
• "foreign relations"
• sanctions
• statistics​
• war
• Olympics
• "World Cup"
• "natural disaster*"

Search notes:

• Use quotation marks for phrases. 
• An asterisk (*) searches for all word endings. This is called truncation, or wildcard searching.
  • econom* = economy, economies, etc. 

GlobalEdge also offers a link to information about "Risk" for each country.

Use the Start Your Research Here search box on the home page to find any missing facts.

The Statista database offers statistics and reports on your country, many with citations. 

• First, just search for your country to find downloadable reports and statistics. Use the most current report. 
• Then, if needed, add:
  • [your country] AND econom*
  • [your country] AND GDP
  • Download as a PDF or PowerPoint slide.
• Then go to dropdown menu:
  • Reports > Country Reports> type in a country. The library has paid for your access to these reports.   
• Statista will create a citation for each individual statistical table, not an entire report. 
• For the future of a country, search for [country] AND outlook or forecast

• Search FRED for Gini [your country]
• Download and customize these charts:
  • Edit Graph > Add Line > Add: Gini Index for the United States. 
  • Download the graph, or do a screenshot.
    • To grab an image: In Windows: press Shift/Windows/S keys. Snap a box around the section of the page. It will create a copy that you can edit and insert into a document. 
    • Or, use your computer's Snipping Tool (in Accessories) to grab chart images. 

Citations: Create your own. Citations are not usually offered by free websites. 

If you haven't already found information on your country's business cycle (expansion, recession), try this: 

Library databases will create draft APA or MLA citations for you. Use the resources below to confirm that they are correct. 

Check your drafts with the English Division's Center for Reading and Writing.

Here's an APA citation for the CIA's World Factbook, using India as an example. Make sure to add hanging indents. 

Central Intelligence Agency. (2022, February 10). India. In The world factbook. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/india/

To create hanging indents in Google Docs for your citations page:

• Highlight the section to be indented.
• Choose Format > Align & Indent > Indentation options > Special indent > Hanging. 

This QR code will bring you to the CRW's booklet on how to create APA citations. 

Use a search engine like Google to find any missing pieces of information.

• Save time and effort in a Google search by going to Tools > Advanced Search.
  • Add words like GDP, limit to .gov, and limit to within the last year. 
  • Make sure to check your information sources! Are they credible?
    • Do sources agree with other reliable sources? 
• Google and free websites do not write citations for you. 
  • Use the OWL links above, and check your drafts with the CRW. 

For tutorials and more tips on web searching, see this library page: