Consolidated Statement of Equity (Unaudited) - 3 months ended Mar. 31, 2018 - USD ($) $ in Millions		Total	Total SPGI Equity	Common Stock $1 par	Additional Paid-in Capital	Retained Income	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss	Less: Treasury Stock	Noncontrolling Interests
Balance at beginning of period at Dec. 31, 2017		$ 768	$ 711	$ 412	$ 525	$ 10,025	$ (649)	$ 9,602	$ 57
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Comprehensive income	[1]	503	500			491	9		3
Dividends		(127)	(127)			(127)
Share repurchases		(1,100)	(1,100)		(150)			950
Employee stock plans		(24)	(25)		(40)			(15)	1
Change in redemption value of redeemable noncontrolling interest		12	12			12
Other	[2]	36	36			26	10
Balance at end of period at Mar. 31, 2018		$ 68	$ 7	$ 412	$ 335	$ 10,427	$ (630)	$ 10,537	$ 61

[1] Excludes $40 million attributable to our redeemable noncontrolling interest.

[2] Reflects a net increase to opening retained earnings due to the cumulative effect of adopting Accounting Standards Codification 606, partially offset by a decrease related to the adoption of Accounting Standards Update 2016-01.