National Accounts - History

History

The original motivation for the development of national accounts and the systematic measurement of employment was the need for accurate measures of aggregate economic activity. This was made more pressing by the Great Depression and as a basis for Keynesian macroeconomic stabilisation policy and wartime economic planning. The first efforts to develop such measures were undertaken in the late 1920s and 1930s, notably by Colin Clark and Simon Kuznets. Richard Stone of the U.K. led later contributions during World War II and thereafter. The first formal national accounts were published by the United States in 1947. Many European countries followed shortly thereafter, and the United Nations published A System of National Accounts and Supporting Tables in 1952. International standards for national accounting are defined by the United Nations System of National Accounts, with the most recent version released for 2008.

In Europe the worldwide System of National Accounts has been adapted in the European System of Accounts (ESA), which is applied by members of the European Union and many other European countries. Research on the subject continues from its beginnings through today.