World Discussion About Pandemics Index (WPDI)

Source: Ahir, Hites

Source: Bloom, Nick  

Source: Furceri, Davide

Release: World Uncertainty Index  

Units:  Index, Not Seasonally Adjusted

Frequency:  Quarterly

The index of discussion about pandemics is constructed by counting the number of times a word related to pandemics is mentioned in the Economist Intelligence Unit country reports. Specifically, the index is the percent of the words related to pandemic episodes in EIU country reports, multiplied by 1,000. A higher number means higher discussion about pandemics and vice versa.

Please see Hites Ahir, Nicholas Bloom and Davide Furceri (2018), 'The World Uncertainty Index' for additional explanation.