To track trade tensions globally, the IMF and Stanford University teamed up to develop the World Trade Uncertainty Index (WTU). The EIU reports discuss major political and economic developments in each country, along with analysis and forecasts of political, policy and economic conditions. We extend our approach to other countries, finding elevated levels of economic policy uncertainty abroad, as well. Images are drawn from the slides used by Nicholas Bloom and accessible here. The authors point out that the index captures uncertainty created by specific near-term events but also long-term concerns such as tensions between North and South Korea. Graph and download economic data for World Uncertainty Index for United States (WUIUSA) from Q1 1952 to Q3 2020 about uncertainty, World, indexes, and USA. It reflects the monthly frequency of articles in US newspapers that discuss both economic policy uncertainty and trade policy. In general, Bloom, Baker and Davis find that, as measured by the EPU index, current levels of economic policy uncertainty are at “extremely elevated levels.” Since 2008, economic policy uncertainty averaged about twice the level of the previous 23 years. Trade as a component of the World Uncertainty Index has been low and nearly flat for most of the last twenty years, but has experienced a major spike in uncertainty over the last four years, in particular due to the U.S.-China trade dispute and the setbacks in negotiating a smooth UK exit from the European Community. This behavior in turn may diminish the returns from government stimulus spending, itself designed to induce firm investments by offsetting some of their risk. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. With trade talks set to resume again in October, the WTU index is sitting at an all-time high. According to a new IMF index “World Trade Uncertainty” (WTU), global skepticism is observing a hike not only in the US and China, where trade tensions are highest but, also in many other countries. That said, the Economic Policy Uncertainty index (EPU) created by Bloom and his colleagues maps the impact of “uncertainty” such that we can see clear stock market volatility associated with other types of major political events and policy developments – most recently, flare-ups in the U.S.-China trade dispute and the unfolding of Brexit. “Global economic uncertainty climbing sharply, IMF economists’ new index finds”. Bloom and his colleagues wanted to find out whether uncertainty is more tangible and evident than we think. “Globally, the trade policy uncertainty index is rising sharply, having been stable at low levels for about 20 years,” the IMF team reports for the World Economic Forum. Bloom has cautioned that trade uncertainty as a driver may have receded in comparison with other concerns. Twitter chatter does reflect much of the same heightened sense of anxiety over the uncertainty of Brexit and U.S.-China trade tensions, but the levels of anxiety generally track lower. And it also includes the charts for WUI global and WTUI global… In a broadening of this approach to tracking events and impacts associated with economic uncertainty, Nick Bloom has worked with economists Hites Ahir and Davide Furceri of the IMF to develop the World Uncertainty Index (WUI). To attach some numbers to this point, Figure 3 displays our newspaper-based index of trade policy uncertainty (TPU) for the US, which reflects the frequency of articles in US newspapers that discuss economic policy uncertainty and trade policy matters. Unveiled in a blog published by the IMF on Monday, the new index is based on Economist Intelligence Unit country reports. 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