World University Rankings 2015-16

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015-2016 list the best global universities and are the only international university performance tables to judge world class universities across all of their core missions - teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

The top universities rankings employ 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons available, which are trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments.

Ranking

Advance Report on U.S. International Trade

Now available, the “Advance Report: U.S. International Trade in Goods,” presents advance statistics for June 2015 from “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services.” This new monthly report provides more timely statistics on exports and imports of goods and enables decision makers to improve their measurements of the U.S. economy. For more information, see the Director’s Blog post.

2015 International Population Estimates and Projections

In time for World Population Day (July 11), the Census Bureau has released an update of population estimates and projections for 24 countries, including China, Jordan, Malawi, Syria and Ukraine through its International Data Base. 

The International Data Base contains population estimates and projections to 2050 for 228 countries and areas. Along with total population, characteristics for countries include age structure, fertility and mortality rates, and migration numbers.Additional analyses for some countries have been conducted to include the estimated effects of HIV/AIDS. As of July 1, 2015, the world population reached 7.256 billion.

MasterCard 2015 Global Destination Cities Index

Driven by insights into travel patterns, the Global Destinations Cities Index [PDF] provides a ranking of the 132 most visited cities around the world. More than just a travel tracker, the Index delivers deeper understanding of how people move around the world and speaks to the importance and prominence of the world’s cities as homes, destinations and engines of growth.

According to the study, London is projected to receive 18.82 million international visitors in 2015, just slightly ahead of second-ranked Bangkok. The two cities have topped the Index throughout its five-year history...

...In 2015, it is expected that nearly 383 million overnight trips will be made by international visitors between the Index’s 132 cities, representing a massive demand for goods, services and experiences as they spend at total of US$360 billion during their visits.

According to the UN report on World Urbanization Prospects, two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050. By forecasting the number of international overnight travelers, the Global Destination Cities Index shows the infrastructure needed to meet the expectations of both locals and visitors.

The Manufacturing and International Trade Report

The U.S. Census Bureau has released the 2012 Manufacturing and International Trade Report (MITR). This new annual report contains manufacturing data on the value of product shipments. The data are published on a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) basis from the 2012 Economic Census Industry Series. The MITR also includes official U.S. export and import merchandise trade statistics.

The MITR will, for the first time, provide a comprehensive comparison between detailed manufacturing product class data and associated import and export data.

NEW: 2012 Manufacturing and International Trade Report

This new annual report from the U.S. Census Bureau will, for the first time, provide a comprehensive comparison between detailed manufacturing product class data and associated import and export data. The data are published on a North American Industry Classification System basis from the 2012 Economic Census Industry Series, presented with official U.S. export and import merchandise trade statistics. Future reports will also incorporate statistics from the Annual Survey of Manufactures. Go to: http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/MITR/2012/.

From Brazil to Uganda: What it takes to get ahead

The world may be flat these days, but the path to success differs around the globe. In some countries, education and hard work are enough. In others, connections and bribes play a big role. Pew Research surveyed people and asked them which factors are absolutely necessary to get ahead in their nation.

More from CNN.

United States among the few countries without a guarantee of paid maternity leave.

There are 185 nations studied in the International Labour Organization's report, Maternity and paternity at work. "Oman, New Guinea and the United States are the only ones without a guarantee of paid maternity leave. In the States, if you have worked long enough for a company with 50 or more employees, you get 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a newborn, adopted or foster child. Only in California, New Jersey and Rhode Island is any provision made for paid leave in these circumstances."

Read more in the Daily Kos.

Regulation of Bitcoin in Selected Jurisdictions

Source: Library of Congress


This report surveys forty foreign jurisdictions and the European Union, reporting on any regulations or statements from central banks or government offices on the handling of bitcoins as well as any significant use of bitcoins in business transactions. Topics covered include whether bitcoins are recognized as legal tender, the possibility of negative impacts on the national currency, concerns about fraud, and how transactions using the Bitcoin system are viewed by tax authorities.

Of those countries surveyed, only a very few, notably China and Brazil, have specific regulations applicable to bitcoin use. There is widespread concern about the Bitcoin system’s possible impact on national currencies, its potential for criminal misuse, and the implications of its use for taxation. Overall, the findings of this report reveal that the debate over how to deal with this new virtual currency is still in its infancy.

June 2014 update

United Nations metadata

UN data sets include:

The United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade) stores more than 1 billion trade data records from 1962.

The Energy Statistics Database contains comprehensive energy statistics on the production, trade, conversion and final consumption of primary and secondary; conventional and non-conventional; and new and renewable sources of energy.

The Environment Statistics Database contains selected water and waste statistics by country.

FAOSTAT provides access to over 3 million time-series and cross sectional data relating to food and agriculture.

The United Nations Industrial Commodity Statistics Database provides annual statistics on the production of major industrial commodities by country.

International Financial Statistics (IFS) is a standard source of international statistics on all aspects of international and domestic finance.

The LABORSTA is an International Labour Office database operated by the ILO Department of Statistics which has data and metadata on labour statistics for over 200 countries or territories.

Other entities address health, marriage and fertility, population, telecommunication, tourism, weather, and other statistical information.

2014 Global Peace Index

From the Institute for Economics and Peace

This is the eighth edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), which ranks nations according to their level of peace.

The Index is composed of 22 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources and ranks 162 independent states, covering 99.6 percent of the world’s population. The index gauges global peace using three broad themes: the level of safety and security in society; the extent of domestic or international conflict; and the degree of militarisation.

In addition to presenting the findings from the 2014 GPI and its seven-year trend analysis, this year’s report includes an updated analysis of the economic impact of violence as well as a detailed assessment of country risk using risk models developed by IEP based on its unique datasets....

Iceland tops the Index again, with the ten highest ranking nations being all relatively small, stable democracies. Nordic and alpine countries are particularly well represented. Asia-Pacific is also represented at the top, with New Zealand 4th and Japan 8th.

The most peaceful region continues to be Europe while the least peaceful region is South Asia. Afghanistan has been replaced at the bottom of the Index by Syria due to a slight improvement in its peace combined with further deterioration of the situation in Syria. South Sudan experienced the largest drop in the Index this year falling from 145th to 160th and ranking as the third least peaceful country. Major deteriorations also occurred in Egypt, Ukraine and Central African Republic.

+ Direct link to Index (PDF; 9.4 MB)

+ Highlights (Infographic) (PDF; 2.7 MB)

+ Map (PDF; 1.6 MB)

+ Interactive map

+ Press Release (PDF; 339 KB)

World's tallest, deepest, most voluminous, most costly human-made structures

As an Infographic

Guess which 2 states make up half of global military expenditure

From BoingBoing:

Frienemies United States and China make up about half of the entire world's military expenditure, according to this infographic by SIPRI. The full report is here.

The global flow of people

Global estimates of migration flows from 1990 to 2010.

Global Views on Morality

The Pew Center’s 2013 Global Attitudes survey asked 40,117 respondents in 40 countries what they thought about eight topics often discussed as moral issues: extramarital affairs, gambling, homosexuality, abortion, premarital sex, alcohol consumption, divorce, and the use of contraceptives. For each issue, respondents were asked whether this is morally acceptable, morally unacceptable, or not a moral issue. The chart below displays the median responses for each question across the 40 countries.

The worst countries in the world in which to be a worker

From BoingBoing:

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), a trade group alliance that works to improve laborers' rights around the globe, released its Global Rights Index this week. Countries are ranked from 1 (best) to 5 (worst) on a scale of how well they guard workers' rights. Cambodia, Qatar, and Guatemala were among the worst offenders.

The ITUC Global Rights Index ranks 139 countries against 97 internationally recognised indicators to assess where workers’ rights are best protected, in law and in practice.

“Countries such as Denmark and Uruguay led the way through their strong labour laws, but perhaps surprisingly, the likes of Greece, the United States and Hong Kong, lagged behind,” said ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow.

“A country’s level of development proved to be a poor indicator of whether it respected basic rights to bargain collectively, strike for decent conditions, or simply join a union at all.”

Here's the report.

World Health Statistics 2014

The global target of halving the proportion of people without access to improved sources of drinking water was met in 2010, with remarkable progress also having been made in reducing child mortality, improving nutrition, and combating HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.

Between 1990 and 2012, mortality in children under 5 years of age declined by 47%, from an estimated rate of 90 deaths per 1000 live births to 48 deaths per 1000 live births. This translates into 17 000 fewer children dying every day in 2012 than in 1990.

Nevertheless, nearly 18,000 children worldwide died every day in 2012, and the global speed of decline in mortality rate remains insufficient to reach the target of a two-thirds reduction in the 1990 levels of mortality by the year 2015.

More from the World Health Organization.

IMF study finds inequality is damaging to economic growth

From The Guardian:

The International Monetary Fund has backed economists who argue that inequality is a drag on growth in a discussion paper [PDF] that has also dismissed rightwing theories that efforts to redistribute incomes are self-defeating.

The Washington-based organisation, which advises governments on sustainable growth, said countries with high levels of inequality suffered lower growth than nations that distributed incomes more evenly.

Backing analysis by the Keynesian economist and Nobel prizewinner Joseph Stiglitz, it warned that inequality can also make growth more volatile and create the unstable conditions for a sudden slowdown in GDP growth.

And in what is likely to be viewed as its most controversial conclusion, the IMF said analysis of various efforts to redistribute incomes showed they had a neutral effect on GDP growth.

Infographic Highlights U.S.-Canada Trade

The Department of Commerce has released a new infographic, International Trade Between U.S. and Canada, which celebrates the world's largest and most comprehensive trading relationship. It illustrates the top U.S. imports from and exports to Canada and presents an annual time series of data on trade between the two neighbors. The time begins shortly after the start of an agreement between the U.S. and Canada in January 1990 to share import data to be used as the other country’s export data.

Where In The World Is The Best Place For Healthy Eating?

The Dutch are known for their lax drug laws, tall statures and proficient language skills.

Perhaps we should add stellar eating habits to that list, as well.

The Netherlands ranked as the easiest country in the world in which to find a balanced, nutritious diet, the advocacy group Oxfam reported Tuesday.

France and Switzerland shared the second slot. And Western Europe nearly swept the top 20 positions, with Australia just edging into a tie for 8th.

Where did the U.S. land?


More from NPR.