The 1993 SNA represents a major advance in national accounting. While updating and clarifying the 1968 SNA, the 1993 SNA provides the basis for improving compilation of national accounts statistics, promoting integration of economic and related statistics, and enhancing analysis of economic developments. The 1993 SNA deals more clearly with relationships between economic flows (such as production, income, savings, accumulation, and financing) and links between these flows and stocks. At the same time the 1993 SNA reflects the many significant developments that have taken place in financial markets and completes the integration of balance sheets into the system. The 1993 SNA also suggests how satellite accounts (e.g. environmental accounts) and alternative classifications (e.g., through social accounting matrices) an be used to augment the central framework of the system.

This is an update of OECD 2006 "Understanding National Accounts". It contains new data, new chapters and is adapted to the new systems of national accounts, SNA 2008 and ESA 2010.

National income estimates date back to the late 17th century, but only in the half-century since the Second World War have economic accounts developed in their present form, becoming an indispensable tool for macroeconomic analysis, projections and policy formulation. Furthermore, it was in this period that the United Nations issued several versions of a system of national accounts (SNA) to make possible economic comparisons on a consistent basis. The latest version, SNA 1993, published in early 1994, occasioned this collection of essays and commentaries. The three chief objectives of the volume are: to enhance understanding of socioeconomic accounts generally and of SNA 1993 in particular; to offer a critique of SNA 1993, including constructive suggestions for future revisions of the system, making it even more useful for its national and international purposes; and to serve as a textbook, or book of readings in conjunction with SNA 1993, for courses in economic accounts.

A New Architecture for the U.S. National Accounts brings together a distinguished group of contributors to initiate the development of a comprehensive and fully integrated set of United States national accounts. The purpose of the new architecture is not only to integrate the existing systems of accounts, but also to identify gaps and inconsistencies and expand and incorporate systems of nonmarket accounts with the core system. Since the United States economy accounts for almost thirty percent of the world economy, it is not surprising that accounting for this huge and diverse set of economic activities requires a decentralized statistical system. This volume outlines the major assignments among institutions that include the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Department of Labor, the Census Bureau, and the Governors of the Federal Reserve System. An important part of the motivation for the new architecture is to integrate the different components and make them consistent. This volume is the first step toward achieving that goal.

This report had its origin in a Committee on National Statistics workshop in November 1993, one of a series on improving economic statistics, jointly sponsored by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the Bureau of the Census of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The focus of the workshop was on revising the presentation of the government sector in the U.S. economic accounts to bring it more into line with the international System of National Accounts (SNA) and current data collection capability, to enhance information about the public sector, and to make the U.S. accounts more comparable to those of other countries.

"The New National Accounts will be essential reading for both students and practitioners concerned with macroeconomics, economic policy, national accounting and comparative studies of the economic performance of advanced and developing countries."--BOOK JACKET.

This joint publication of the United Nations, the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the World Bank reflects the changes and improvements that have been introduced to the System of National Accounts since its most recent revision in 1993. The System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA) is a statistical framework that provides a comprehensive, consistent and flexible set of macroeconomic accounts for policymaking, analysis and research purposes. The 2008 SNA is expected to receive distinguished attention not only from professionals practicing in the field of national accounts but policy makers, analysts, academia and a broad range of users who rely on macroeconomic information obtainable from the updated system of accounts. It also provides an overarching framework for standards in other domains of economic statistics, facilitating the integration of these statistical systems to achieve consistency with national accounts. The publication that contains the 2008 SNA has been substantially updated from its previous version as a result of a multiyear collaborative project. Annex 3 of the publication provides a detailed description of the new features of the 2008 SNA. The 2008 SNA will support the implementation of international standards in national accounting and provide the methodological basis for improving the international comparability of national accounts data. When adopting the 2008 SNA as the updated new standard of national accounting, the United Nations Statistical Commission encouraged all countries to compile and report their national accounts on the basis of the 2008 SNA as soon as possible. The publication also provides practical new tools to complement the previously published version: a glossary of SNA terms and definitions and a comprehensive index.