Distinguished Lecture on Economics in Government—What We Don't Know Could Hurt Us: Some Reflections on the Measurement of Economic Activity

Katharine Abraham

Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2005, vol. 19, issue 3, 3-18

Abstract: The routine production of U.S. economic statistics dates back to the early part of the twentieth century. But in recent decades, as services output has continued to expand a system of economic statistics that had been designed during the manufacturing era began to seem increasingly outdated. Over the past decade, the statistical agencies have done yeoman work to expand the availability and quality of service sector statistics, but the task is far from completed. Moreover, the traditional accounting framework for economic statistics has focused almost exclusively on market transactions. Looking ahead, more comprehensive measurement of productive activities, however they may be organized, must be a priority.

Date: 2005
Note: DOI: 10.1257/089533005774357833
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/089533005774357833 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aea:jecper:v:19:y:2005:i:3:p:3-18

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/subscriptions

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Economic Perspectives is currently edited by Enrico Moretti

More articles in Journal of Economic Perspectives from American Economic Association Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Michael P. Albert ().