IMAGINE a world without statistics. Governments would fumble in the dark, investors would waste money and electorates would struggle to hold their political leaders to account. This is why The Economist publishes more than 1,000 figures each week, on matters such as output, prices and jobs, from a host of countries.

IN THIS week’s print edition, we explain why we have decided to drop Argentina’s official inflation statistics and publish a private-sector estimate, State Streets’ PriceStats Index, instead.

An innovative partnership between academics at MIT Sloan Business School of Management and State Street Global Markets is helping investors gain valuable insights into inflation trends, using real-time price data gleaned from the web.

Online retailers offer an immediate measure of inflation IF THE inflationistas are right, where should they look for signs of accelerating price growth? Many are suspicious of official numbers: John Williams, the boss of an inflation-statistics website called ShadowStats.com, claims American inflation has been underestimated for decades because the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) regularly

When it comes to planning for your financial future, inflation is a huge issue. In fact, given the historic annual inflation rate of 3.75% a million dollars today will be worth just over $190k in 50 years. Moreover, using that historic rate along with the rule of 72, we can further conclude that prices will

Between official government statistics, industry surveys, and Wall Street forecasts, it often seems like we’re drowning in data, often of uncertain value. But consider the alternative. In the early years of the Great Depression, it was clear that things were awful, but the government had few good figures to go on; there was no official

Even in the information age, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics still gathers much of its data the old-fashioned way. Workers make phone calls to find out what dentists charge for pulling teeth, and they visit stores to write down the prices of CDs and Russet potatoes.

Even in the information age, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics still gathers much of its data the old-fashioned way. Workers make phone calls to find out what dentists charge for pulling teeth, and they visit stores to write down the prices of CDs and Russet potatoes. In the end, the data are accurate but