What is the OECD?
What does “a club of mostly rich countries” actually do?
By BUTTONWOOD
MANY articles in The Economist cite reports or statistics from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development or OECD. Often we add the description, “a club of rich countries” (something it isn’t that happy about). What is this club, and what does it actually do?
The OECD was founded in 1961 but grew out of the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation which was set up in 1948 to operate the Marshall plan, the American aid programme for war-ravaged Europe. The OECD included non-European countries; the idea behind its formation was to encourage economic interdependence among member nations with the help of evidence-based analysis. Its members fund its work.
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