Industry and market sizes

where to find this info on the web

[genem]

Hi guys,
Every other 5 minutes I read about "oil industry valued at $100 billion" or "obsence profit margins of software develpment". Is there a site on the web that compiles this info in an easily digestible way? Basically I want to get an overivew of the economy, you know, who's making the waves.
I know there is Hoovers and Yahoo Finance, but I'm looking for more of the bird's eye view on things.

Thanks!

[weeks]

Why?

That's the question. If you looking to invest, then you're looking for information on firms that are traded on exchanges? Are you looking for global or just national? If national, the government typically has the better data, although they are slow in releasing it. If global, well, that's pretty useless anyway.

If you are looking to serve a market, the lists that compiled for investors can be somewhat misleading. In agriculture, for example, one of the largest firms is Cargill--they are privately owned.

Dun and Bradstreet works very hard at keeping up with businesses. I find their rates for their data usually reasonable.

[genem]

No, no, this is not for investing or money making. I just want to be more aware of what's going on around me. I mean, can you name the biggest industries in the world? Do you know their profit margins and ROI? This knowledge should put thing in perspective, for me at least.

Thank you!

[Syzygy]

The many books and resources published by The Economist are exceptionally useful.

Syzygy