EIU: Your Passport to the World

Students, faculty and staff at the University of Florida now have access to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) databases, a “web-based global intelligence service.” From your office, at home, or in the library you can directly access timely analysis on the political, economic and business conditions in 180 countries. Smathers Libraries now has subscriptions to EIU Viewswire and to full reports on 61 countries in EIU.com.

EIU is a sister organization of the highly respected  Economist magazine, the leading international weekly of political, economic and business affairs. EIU has highly trained analysts stationed around the world who monitor developments in all countries and regions. Senior executives and decision-makers in multinational corporations and international organizations are the primary market for these services.

The EIU databases have many applications across the curriculum. Andy Naranjo, the William A. Emerson/Merrill Lynch Professor of Finance, uses them in teaching his classes in international finance. ”To give my students a more complete understanding of international financial markets, they are required to perform a thorough country analysis. The EIU databases provide them with a comprehensive and consistent source of country, political, economic, and financial information.” Richard Phillips, Head of the Latin American Collection, says “There are many uses in LA Studies, such as statements on trade with Mexico, overviews of Mercosur, profiles of the isles of the Caribbean, and views on current Andean labor market troubles. Additionally, the EIU databases are very valuable in getting current Cuban economic indicators, something very difficult to obtain.” Peter Malanchuk is the Libraries’ Africana and Political Science Bibliographer. He says that “the EIU databases provide excellent overview commentaries of political and international disputes, political analyses, political forecasting, election watches, combined with economic data, policy trends, projections, economic growth and inflation rates which makes for a very sophisticated and timely research resource for those working in Africa, Latin America, and the rest of the world. It is a terrific tool for comparative country studies.”

EIU ViewsWire is a new service made possible by the advent of the Web. ViewsWire extracts relevant material from all of EIU’s many publications and organizes it by country and region. Between 100-150 articles are added each day. The service goes beyond simply reporting news by incorporating sophisticated analyses of political, economic and business developments. Each country has a home page that organizes all of the country-related information.

EIU.com offers a customized set of Country Reports and Country Profiles selected to match the programs here at the University. The Library subscribes to all of the reports for the Latin American, Caribbean and African countries south of the Sahara to support our Latin American and African Studies programs as well as Egypt and Israel. In addition, we subscribe to the major economic and political powers and strategic countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Australia, Canada, Japan, Russia, China, India and Hong Kong. The Country Profiles are in-depth, detailed annual surveys that discuss the country’s politics, economy, resources, infrastructure and trade. Extensive, up-to-date statistical data are included in appendices. The Country Reports are quarterly updates. New monthly Country Monitors update the quarterly reports. EIU.com also contains the regional newsletters including Business Asia, Business Latin America and Business Eastern Europe.