Got this today from Robert Benincasa, NPR's new data guru:

A World Bank Group blogger has invited his readers to use the bank's data tools to run a reality check on members of the G-20 and their post-summit embrace of entrepreneurship and market principles.
Ryan Hahn of the Bank's "Doing Business" blog pointed to several World Bank resources, including its fun interactive "Business Planet" data-mapping mashup.
A kind of Leatherman multitool for international business indicators, the Business Planet map marries World Bank data with those ubiquitous color-coded pushpins from Google Maps, rating countries on how business-friendly they are.
Users can set the map to display country-specific information and statistics on paying taxes, getting credit, enforcing contracts and trading across borders, among other things.
The data-oriented call to action was sparked by the G-20's statement last week, which expressed "a shared belief that market principles, open trade and investment regimes, and effectively regulated financial markets foster the dynamism, innovation, and entrepreneurship that are essential for economic growth, employment, and poverty reduction."
"It might be tempting to treat this merely as empty rhetoric, but I think it's worthwhile to look at what the data actually shows about these relationships," Hahn wrote.

categories: Fun With Economics

6:06 - November 20, 2008

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