John Maynard Keynes and the Development of National Accounts in Britain, 1895–1941

Abstract

This history of National Accounts in Britain is done with two specific considerations in mind. First, the role of the economist John Maynard Keynes-as theoretician, compiler, supporter and user-is addressed. This role is substantial and has been greatly misunderstood or misrepresented by a large part of the literature. Second, the pioneering contributions made at the start of the 20th century by Alfred Flux, Arthur Bowley and Josiah Stamp, and later by Colin Clark, are detailed. The debates between these men mark the emergence of National Accounts as a serious discipline. Their work was supported by the earlier theoretical contributions of Alfred Marshall, and by practical developments, in particular the instigation of a Census of Production in 1907. Taken together, the two considerations tell a good part of the story of the emergence of National Accounting on the world stage. Copyright 2009 The Author. Journal compilation International Association for Research in Income and Wealth 2009.

Do economists make policies? On the political effects of economics

“…Before the 1930s they were available for only a handful of countries and were not produced by government agencies (Studenski, 1958). Economists in the US, UK, and Canada helped make national income accounting a useful tool for macroeconomic and military policymaking (Edelstein, 2001;Tily, 2009), then worked to produce an international standard that was adopted by the United Nations in 1953. By 1975, more than 100 countries reported GNP data to the United Nations (McNeely, 1995), and the politics of growth had become central in both developed and developing countries (Mitchell, 2002;O'Bryan, 2009;Yarrow, 2010).…”

A magyarországi konjunktúrakutatás rövid történeti áttekintés

“…A nagy gazdasági válság (1929)(1930)(1931)(1932)(1933) eredményeként Keynes felhívta a figyelmet a konzervatív gazdaságpolitika hatástalanságára, a kereslet fontosságára és a kiadási multiplikátorok működésére. Természetesen az általa feltárt összefüggések hasznosításához, a gazdaságpolitikai programok kidolgozásához megfelelő adatok is szükségessé váltak, és ez lendületet adott a nemzeti számlák kidolgozásához is (Tily [2009]).…”

O debate Keynes-Tinbergen: relato histórico de uma controvérsia sobre a origem da econometria

“…O método é sempre repleto de perigos, mas, em minha opinião, é o tipo de problema ao qual pode ser aplicado ao invés daquele em que Tinbergen aplicou. (apud GARRONE;MARCHIONATTI, 2007 Patinkin (1976) e Tily (2009) argumentam que Keynes auxiliou no desenvolvimento de contas nacionais porque reconheceu a importância destas para a economia e a teoria econômica, e assim contribuindo para o avanço do programa econométrico na macroeconomia de forma indireta. 30 Deve se notar que correspondência entre Marschak e Lange mostra que um dos principais problemas apontados por Keynes, a inclusão do tempo, teve que ter uma solução provisória, a saber, a inclusão do tempo como variável independente (cf.…”