Finance & Development, December 2025

We live in a world of data. From satellites and smartwatches to social media and swipes at a register, we have ways to measure the economy to an extent that would have seemed like science fiction just a generation ago. The data deluge raises important questions: How can we distinguish meaningful signals of economic activity from noise? To what extent can new sources of data complement or even replace official statistics? And, at a more fundamental level, are we even measuring the metrics that matter most in today’s increasingly digital economy? F&D magazine’s December 2025 issue explores these questions.