Constant-dollar gross product originatingInput-output accountsGross state productOther structural developmentsTrade in servicesInternational investmentInternational capital transactionsOther international developments| Economic development | Issue | Action/1/ |
| Structural change: | ||
| Constant-dollar gross product originating | Estimates were not capturing changes; needed better picture of growth in services and imports and the role of information processing equipment | Revised the gross product by industry series (1991) |
| Input-output accounts | Incomplete picture of industries; needed more timely detail on industry interaction | Improved the benchmark input-output accounts (1994) |
| Incomplete picture of industries; needed more frequent information on changing industry structure | Published annual input-output tables (1987) | |
| Gross state product | Incomplete picture of regional activity; needed detail on State contributions to GDP to understand changes in economy's regional structure | Introduced gross state product by industry (1988) |
| Other structural developments | Changing nature of Federal deposit insurance; needed to reflect the exposure due to savings and loan crisis | Developed a new classification of federal deposit insurance (1991) |
| Changing nature of health care programs; needed consistent picture | Reclassified medicaid outlays (to conform its treatment with medicare) (1985) | |
| Price change | Substitution bias of fixed-weighted index | Published new alternative measures of real GDP change that reflect changing relative prices (1992) |
| Changing relative prices and/or unique products | Introduced new index for deflation of computers based on hedonic techniques (1985) | |
| Introduced a new price index for deflation of multifamily structures based on hedonic techniques (1991) | ||
| Used BLS import price indexes for deflation of imported producers' equipment (1988) | ||
| Improved the deflation of Federal defense purchases (1980) | ||
| Internationalization: | ||
| Trade in services | Gap in coverage; as trade (especially in financial services) increased, gap became larger | Conducted new surveys of 30 services (1989) |
| Improved the foreign travel survey (1989) | ||
| Developed new benchmark survey of financial services(1994) | ||
| Incomplete monthly picture of trade | Presented new monthly estimates of international services (1994) | |
| International investment | Position: Valuation at historical cost and therefore understated and inconsistent | Revalued direct investment and used market values for U.S. gold reserves (1991) |
| Direct investment in the United States: Needed establishment detail for analysis of specific industries | Linked BEA database of foreign-owned companies with Census database of U.S. establishments (1992) | |
| International capital transactions | Gap in coverage; needed to capture new channels and new financial instruments | Expanded use of partner-country data (1994) |
| Supported improvements in Treasury surveys of portfolio investment | ||
| Other international developments | Increased interest in multinational firms; needed more detail on ownership | Developed supplemental balance-of-payments accounting frameworks and estimates (1994) |
| Other | Improved end-use classifications and deflation for trade (1988) | |
| Other developments | Increased concern about the impact of economic growth on the use of natural resources and environmental quality | Developed integrated economic and environmental satellite accounts (1994) |
| Growth of the underground economy | Improved the adjustments for the underground economy (1984) | |
1. Years in parentheses are the years in which the change was introduced.
