I need the complete comparable annual GDP per capita data for 
most/all OECD countries from as far back as possible (eg., 1950), 
until 2004.  Most importantly, from 1990 until 2004, 
I also need this data for the former West Germany, 
and for the unified Germany, separately.
I also need the source of the data, of course.

Data should like this (in a text file):

         Austria   W. Germany USA Germany
1960    342         234          444   NA
1961    345         245          444   NA
...
2004    405         265          450   300

I'll tip $20 if I like your answer.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 13 Dec 2005 04:41 PST

Can you clarify what you'd like for Germany?

I presume it would be GDP data for West Germany only prior to
unification, and then for Germany as a whole, post-unification.

Is that what you're after?


paf

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Clarification of Question by adiamond-ga on 13 Dec 2005 07:26 PST

hello paf,

no, i'm looking for per capita GDP data for the former W. Germany
*after* reunification.
and this data must be in the same units (eg., constant dollars) for
all the countries.
my goal is to be able to measure what happened to GDP in the former W.
Germany after reunification.

feel free to ask for additional clarification as necessary.

thank you,

alexis

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 13 Dec 2005 08:09 PST

Alexis,

Interesting.

I've found the comparative GDP data for all OECD countries going back to 1970.

However, the historical data for Germany has all been *revised* to
reflect the entire country.  That is, the data are consistent for
post-unification Germany -- data for W. Germany alone are not
included, even in the historical data.

I'm sure the German government has more detailed information available
that would allow a before-and-after comparision of W. Germany, but:

--I don't read German

--the data may not be consistent with OECD data, and

--digging into the actual sources would take me well beyond what a $50
question can accomodate.


I can offer up the OECD data since 1970 as an answer to your question
if you think that would help (understanding the limits of the Germany
data, of course).

If you would like me to post this information, I would suggest making
it available as a spreadsheet file, rather than a pure text file, for
ease of handling.  But if you absolutely need it in text format, just
let me know.

I look forward to hearing from you as to how (or whether!) to proceed on this.


pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by adiamond-ga on 13 Dec 2005 10:29 PST

hi paf,

sounds like you're running into the same problem i did.

i already have the data you describe; it's available in several
places, including the OECD website.
the trick is to get W. German per capita GDP after reunification, in a
format that is comparable across countries.  so it doesn't sound like
the solution you're offering will work for me.

thanks anyway,

alexis