Abstract:

This research documents the current international economic and social environment from the perspective of the major international agencies. It is rewarding to investigate in retrospective way about what has happened during the period 2008-2011, because knowing the past allows forecasting clearly but with uncertainty, the future of short and medium term. Today the mankind faces a period of crisis, synonymous of change and this research provides an updated overview of the global socio-economic environment, allowing the understanding of risks and opportunities.

This research is released to understand the actual international economic history, identifying the concerns of the main international agencies and taking into account important events that have occurred recently.

Nowadays the modern trend through which the knowledge is shared includes Internet, system that allows to learn and conceptualize the current international economic history in real time. In this way, the Internet has become an efficient tool for the development of studies and research as long as they maintain a strict quality control in the selection of sources. This idea deals with the concept of informational society that Castells describes as a society based on information and knowledge managed by the new technologies.

In this way, it is interesting to review the information available on the network in order to get reliable information in connection with the current international economic environment, through consultations on official sites that international agencies owes for promoting transparency in the information and becoming sources of high quality data, increasing the knowledge and understanding of the globalization process as a result of the Scientific-Technological Revolution.

That is why within the sources of information used to conduct this research, it has been reviewed the official websites of several agencies, from the period 2008-2011 where the main events considered were: In 2008 the subprime crisis in the U.S and the later Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy; in 2009 the influenza pandemic; in 2010-2011 the severe earthquakes registered in Haiti, Chile and later in Japan; and in 2011 the consequences of the jasmine revolution that started in Tunicia and expanded its effects over Egypt, Libya and the middle east.

Keywords:

Press releases, chronology, international agencies.