Affiliations: [a] Research Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas,
Dallas, TX, USA
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Enrique Martínez-García,
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, 2200 N. Pearl Street, Dallas, TX 75201, USA.
Tel.: +1 214 922 5262; E-mail:
enrique.martinez-garcia@dal.frb.org
Abstract: The Database of Global Economic Indicators (DGEI) from the Federal Reserve Bank
of Dallas aims to standardize and disseminate economic indicators for policy
analysis and scholarly work on the role of globalization. Its main purpose is to
offer a broad perspective on a number of global factors affecting the U.S.
economy. DGEI indicators are based on a core sample of 40 countries with
aggregates for the rest of the world (ex. the U.S.) and by level of development
attainment and openness to trade. DGEI indicators currently include real GDP,
industrial production (IP), Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), merchandise exports
and imports, headline CPI, core CPI (ex. food and energy), PPI/WPI inflation,
nominal and real exchange rates, and short-term interest rates. Here we describe
our methodology to transform and combine different time series, for temporal and
cross-country aggregation, and to highlight the importance of using
representative data in international macroeconomics research. Our paper makes a
related contribution to the literature by providing a formal assessment of
conventional interpolation methods used to adjust the data frequency. A
selection of the DGEI-derived global indicators – to be updated monthly – can be
accessed at the following URL:
http://www.dallasfed.org/institute/dgei/index.cfm.
