Measures and Motivations: U.S. National Income and Product Estimates During the Great Depression and World War II

Richard Kane

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: This paper explains the early U.S. Department of Commerce estimates of national income and product during the 1930s and 1940s, focusing on how both economic theory and the needs of policymakers influenced the methods and concepts used. The paper explores the debate between Simon Kuznets, author of Commerce’s first estimates of national income during the Great Depression, and Milton Gilbert, author of Commerce’s first estimates of gross national product (GNP) during World War II, over the meaning and measurement of the nation’s final product.

Keywords: gross national product; gross domestic product; final product; national income; nipas; national account; wartime planning; fiscal policy; wartime fiscal policy; inflationary gap; great depression; world war II; simon kuznets; milton gilbert; robert nathan; bureau of economic analysis; keynes; clark warburton; colin clark; richard stone; george jaszi (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B0 B22 B40 C19 C82 D63 E01 E62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hpe
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:44336

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