# Tako Macroeconomics > Use when the user asks what a country's economic indicator is or was (inflation, CPI, PCE, unemployment, GDP, interest rates, population), compares countries on one, asks which indicators exist for a country or which countries belong to a bloc, or wants a macro chart or briefing. Returns the figures as structured, citation-backed data from Tako (FRED, BLS, OECD, BIS, IMF, World Bank, Census and Polymarket), each with a chart. Country-level indicators only, not company financials or website traffic. - Skill: `takodata/tako-macroeconomics` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add takodata/tako-macroeconomics` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/takodata/tako-macroeconomics/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Research & Search - Author: TakoData (https://skillmd.com/u/takodata) - Updated: 2026-09-10 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/takodata/tako-macroeconomics --- # Macroeconomics (Tako) Tako serves macro and demographic indicators as structured, cited data: each result is a card carrying the headline value, the underlying rows, and a chart of the series. All tools below live on the Tako MCP server (server name `tako`). The tool descriptions and every result already carry the card fields, the `sources` guidance and the zero-card recovery; this skill covers how to shape a macro query, how to check a card against the question, and how to report. ## Workflow 1. **Query as COUNTRY + INDICATOR**: `"US CPI inflation"`, `"Japan unemployment rate"`. Coverage is keyed by country. For a bloc or region, check coverage with `tako_available_data` before searching: member-country series are far denser, so aggregate them yourself or take the figure from the web results and say so. 2. **Name the variant when intent is precise.** Most indicators exist in several variants with materially different values: headline vs core, seasonally adjusted or not, BLS vs IMF vs OECD-harmonised, U-3 vs U-6, target rate vs effective rate. When you don't know the exact name, call `tako_available_data` first, which is free, and search on the name it returns. Level and rate series share a stem: "Core PCE Price Index" is the index level and "Core PCE Price Index (% Change)" is the inflation rate, and a query that says "inflation" can match either, or a CPI series. 3. **Call `tako_search`** with the default sources. Web results carry release commentary and cover the gaps in bloc-level data. 4. **Check the top card against the question** with the list below. If a different card is the right one, link its title to its `url` and say so. 5. **Read the value from `description`.** When the card is exportable and you need more than the headline, `tako_contents` on its `url` returns the series. 6. **Zero cards?** Follow the recovery the result states, and keep to two priced searches per question. Empty means not covered, not that the indicator doesn't exist. 7. **Discovery asks** ("what does Tako track for Japan", "which countries are in the G7", "who publishes Japan's data")? Resolve the country with `tako_available_data` to get its node id, then call `tako_graph_related` on it. The first call returns the relation map with counts (`metrics`, `part_of`, `siblings`, `sources`; `members` on a bloc node); pass `relation` to page one and `q` to filter it, then search on the names it returns. ## Checking a card against the question One indicator name covers many series: providers, methodologies, vintages, levels and rates, and prediction markets on the same quantity. Before quoting, confirm: 1. **Variant.** The title names the variant asked for; several providers' headline numbers can come back together. Don't average them or take the first. 2. **Vintage, as asked.** For a current figure, take the series whose `coverage_end` is latest among the matches: discontinued series stay in the graph and an annual series can sit a year behind the monthly one. For a historical period, any series that covers it is valid. Series refresh on different schedules, so don't present two indicators as the same vintage without checking. 3. **Rate, not level.** A "(% Change)" card is a percentage; a bare "Price Index" card is index points. Confirm from the unit in `description`. 4. **Indicator or expectation, as asked.** Polymarket cards report what traders expect, not what a statistics agency published, and exist for many macro quantities. Quote one when the question is about expectations, and label it market-implied; otherwise take the published series. 5. **Country.** `nodes` names it. Country overview cards sometimes carry no nodes; fall back to the title there. ## Comparisons - Cross-country comparison is built in: `"US vs China inflation"` returns a two-series card. For currency-denominated indicators (GDP, wages) the chart plots both currencies on one axis unnormalized; state each currency and convert before comparing. ## Output 1. One or two lines on the indicator, referencing the chart in prose. Never re-post the image URL: it double-renders the inline chart. 2. Source name and `coverage_end` date. The roster is wider than FRED, so cite what the card names. Say plainly when a figure is web-sourced. 3. One `[Open in Tako](url)` link for the card you embedded.