Coface @Rating
This website alone will make you re-evaluate your negative pre-conceptions of the French. Coface is France's export credit underwriter, offering insurance against the risk that when you sell something to a foreign company, they won't pay their bills (for whatever reason -- from bankruptcy to international war).
For a long list of countries worldwide, Coface's fine website provides at the very least a country risk rating (corresponding to the risk of trade credit loss). For most countries you also get a terse assessment of the reasons for the rating, divided into "Assets" and "Weaknesses" and an outlook. For some countries there's actual data on the number of bankruptcies and the number of international payment defaults -- very hard to obtain elsewhere. Vive la France!
KEYWORDS: risk for exporters, economic analysis, economic stability
Updated April 16, 2004