Director's Page

BEA strives to provide the most timely, relevant and accurate economic data to you, our users, to help promote a better understanding of the U.S. economy. These reliable and consistent measures of economic activity are essential to the informed decisionmaking of policymakers, business leaders and every American household. The success of our statistical programs, in large part, is determined by your confidence in our data, and your suggestions for improving that data. As one of the world's leading statistical agencies, we are dedicated to staying on the cutting edge of the economy.

Stay informed by visiting this page to learn more about BEA’s full range of activities. A review of activities at the Bureau, including research, IT developments, and recent data releases are available below. The 5-year BEA Strategic Plan is available below for your review as well as a report card of our successes in meeting the over 200 annual milestones in the Plan. Information on the President's current budget request for BEA also is available. Finally, articles, presentations, and other materials can be found here to keep you informed on topics ranging from GDP and the measurement of standards of living to the response of the statistical system to the financial crisis.

If you have any questions or issues about BEA that you would like to share, I encourage you to contact me or any member of the BEA staff. We welcome your comments and suggestions. When you talk, we listen.

State of the Bureau

• Director's Message - Survey of Current Business (PDF)
• Taking Account: BEA publishes additional NIPA handbook chapters (PDF)
• Research Spotlight: Artistic Originals as Capital Assets (PDF)
• BEA Briefing: Analyzing Federal Programs Using BEA Statistics: A Look at Unemployment Insurance Benefits Payments (PDF)

Meet the Director

• "Meet BEA Director Steve Landefeld"
  Taken from AMSTATNEWS.
  The Membership Magazine of the American Statistical Association, August 2011

Recent FAQs

• How will the discontinuation of the Census Bureau’s Current Industrial Reports affect BEA’s quarterly estimates of private fixed investment in aircraft?
• How did the recent GDP revisions change the picture of the 2007–2009 recession and the recovery?
• Why has the initial estimate of real GDP for the fourth quarter of 2008 been revised down so much?
• How do the economic stimulus acts impact NIPA Corporate Profits?
• Do BEA statistics show that the average federal worker is paid significantly more than the average private-sector worker?

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BEA Advisory Committee Topics

Presentations from the May 6, 2011 Meeting

• Global Manufacturing and Measurement Issues Raised by the iPhone (PPT)
• Update on NIPA Projects and Plans (PPT)
• Update on BEA Management, Communication, and IT Activities (PPT)
• Consistency of Price Parities for Regions of the U.S. in an Economic Approach Framework (PDF)

Federal Economic Statistics (BEA, BLS, Census) Advisory Committee Topics

Presentations from the June 17th, 2011 Meeting

• Consumer Expenditure Survey (PDF)
• Financial Sector Statistics (PDF)
• Health Price Statistics (PDF)

Strategic Plan and Budget

• Strategic Objectives (PDF)
• Bureau of Economic Analysis Strategic Plan 2011-2015 (PDF)
• FY2010 Strategic Plan Report Card (PDF)
• Budget
• FY2010 Budget Justification (PDF)
• FY2011 Budget Justification (PDF)
• FY2012 Budget Justification (PDF)
• Balanced Scorecard Performance Review, June 2011 (PPT)
• Congressional Testimony

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Bureau Performance Measures

Customers

• FY2009 Report on Customer Satisfaction, January 2010 (PDF)

Staff

• Organizational Assessment Survey Results 2010 (PDF)

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Selected Articles, Presentations, and Papers on BEA Activities

Papers and Remarks

General

• Washington Journal appearance, CSPAN (Video)
• Charts for Washington Journal appearance, CSPAN (PDF)
  
• "Taking the Pulse of the Economy: Measuring GDP" with Eugene P. Seskin and Barbara M. Fraumeni (PDF)
  Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 2008

Expanded GDP Measures

• "Why GDP is like GPA” National Public Radio, October 2011
• "GDP and Beyond: Measuring Economic Progress and Sustainability" with Brent R. Moulton, Joel D. Platt, and Shaunda M. Villones (PDF)
  Survey of Current Business, April 2010
• "National Time Accounting and National Economic Accounting" with Shaunda M. Villones
  Measuring the Subjective Well-Being of Nations, NBER
• Debate on GDP as Measure of Standards of Living (PDF)
  The Economist

History

• Director's remarks on World Statistics Day 2010 (PDF)
• "GDP, One of the Greatest Inventions of the 20th Century" (PDF)
  Survey of Current Business, April 2010

Household Production

• "Accounting for Household Production: A Prototype Satellite Account Using the American Time Use Survey" with Barbara M. Fraumeni and Cindy M. Vojtech (PDF)
  Review of Income and Wealth, June 2009

Integrated National Accounts

• "The New Architecture of the U.S. National Accounts and its Relationship to the SNA" (PDF)
  by Andre Vanoli
• "A New Architecture of the U.S. National Accounts: A Reply to Andre Vanoli" (PDF) with Dale Jorgenson and William Nordhaus
  Review of Income and Wealth, December 2010

Statistical Discrepancy

• "Comments on "The Income - and Product Side-Estimates of U.S. Output Growth" (Word)
  Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Spring 2010

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Presentations

2011

• Measuring U.S. Economic Progress & Sustainability (PPT)
  July 2011 - 16th World Congress of International Economic Association, “Measuring of Social Welfare: Beyond GDP”
• Measurement of the Financial Sector: FESAC Agencies Response to the Financial Crisis (PPT)
  June 2011 - FESAC Meeting
• The Role of Statistics in the United States Economic Future (PPT)
  March 2011 - "Statistics for policymaking: Europe 2020”
• Report of the Friends of the Chair on Integrated Economic Statistics (PDF)
  February 2011 - United Nations Economic and Social Council
  

2010

• The Importance of Accurate and Integrated Measures of Property Prices (PPT)
  February 2010 - 41st Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission
• Service Sector Improvements in the National Economic Accounts (PPT)
  March 2010 - Brookings Institution, "Measuring Up in a Changing Economy: A Look at New U.S. Service Sector Data and Why It Matters"
• Report on the Income- and Product-side Estimates of Output Growth (PPT)
  March 2010 - Brookings Panel on Economic Activity
• The Future of Data Collection, Access, & Dissemination: Uses of Administrative Data and Data Matching (PPT)
  April 2010 - Population of Association of America 2010 Annual Conference
• Summary Estimates for Multinational Companies (PPT)
  April 2010 - State International Development Organizations Conference
• The U.S. Federal Statistical System 2.0: Future Directions (PPT)
  August 2010 - Joint Statistical Meeting
• Integration, KLEMS, and the NIPAs (PPT)
  August 2010 - World KLEMS Conference
• Beyond GDP: New Measures of Multidimensional Well-being (PDF)
  August 2010 – IARIW 31st General Conference
• Better Data for Better Decisions: Progress & Prospects (PDF)
  September 2010 – ITA, “Measuring & Enhancing Services Trade Data and Information” Conference
• GDP & Beyond: Happiness or Economic Welfare? (PDF)
  October 2010 – SABEW Annual Workshop
• The Role of Statistics in America’s Economic Future (PDF)
  November 2010 – COSSA Annual Meeting
• The Role of BEA in Federal Economic Statistics (PDF)
  November 2010 - JPSM

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• State of the Bureau
• Meet the Director
• Recent FAQs
• BEA Advisory Committee Topics
• Federal Economic Statistics (BEA, BLS, Census) Advisory Committee Topics
• Strategic Plan and Budget
• Bureau Performance Measures
• Selected Articles, Presentations & Papers on BEA Activities