Pocket World in Figures (The Economist Books)

By The Economist

New edition of the annual best-seller of fascinating facts and figures about the world we live in.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1861974248
• ISBN13: 9781861974242
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Economist Books
• Length: 242 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.7" x 0.6" x 3.7"

Customer Reviews

Most useful reference guide I have

I constantly use this small "Pocket" World in Figures Book. I get it each year, included with my subscription to The Economist Magazine. It is most useful for comparing economies, standards of living, GDP, Economic growth, Stock market capitalization etc. If you want to know the population or land mass of the Czech Republic or the structure of employement in Romania or a listing of the world's biggest cities, this guide has it. I keep on my desk at all times.

Best Value for Global Figures

This is the best value for having global figures handy, and is one tenth the cost of the other great reference work, the Fitzroy Dearborn Book of World Rankings. Perhaps even more to the point, this book has something the other one does not: country by country data (although one could always go to the CIA World Factbook online for similar data as well as biographic listings). Having said that, it does not have the full range of detail that is offered by the other, such as domestic water shortages and energy consumption. This book has Internet and music charts--but none of the charts are comprehensive, generally listing top and bottom countries, not all countries. Bottom line: this is the best value for a portable book about global figures relevant to political economy.

A goldmine of usable and quotable information

An outstanding annual publication. I use this more frequently than any other book. For anyone engaged in work, trade, research or policy at other than the purely local level this is a goldmine of useful and quotable information.