1. It is important to note that neo-classical economists in their applied work takes the nation as a 'natural fact', for instance almost all analysis related to economic policy is based on an analysis of national statistics, possibly combined with comparative data from a number of nations. This is true also for international organizations such as IMF, OECD and the World Bank. When the analysis is presented in transnational regional terms the data used will typically be weighted or unweighted averages of national data.