National Income and Product Accounts

A quantity or price index for an aggregate in which the formula weights are taken from a designated base period and do not change over time. For example, in computing a Laspeyres quantity index, the quantities in each time period are multiplied by the base-period prices. Laspeyres indexes are relatively easy to compute and analyze, but they do not capture substitutions between items over time, and their movements are highly dependent on the choice of the base period.

Term used by the Census Bureau to describe the industry classification of an establishment on the basis of its major activity.

Stocks of goods held by a firm. Inventories consist of (1) materials and supplies held for use in the production of goods for sale or in the provision of a service, (2) “work-in-progress” products that are partly processed and that require further processing prior to sale, (3) finished goods held for sale, and (4) products purchased for resale, generally held by wholesalers and retailers.

A method of filling in estimates for a NIPA component series between two time periods by using the movements of an indicator series or by using other statistical techniques to approximate the movements of the component series. For example, an annual survey, (such as the Census Bureau annual retail trade survey) may be used to derive the annual estimate for a component series, and a monthly survey (such as the Census Bureau monthly retail trade survey) is used to derive the intervening monthly and quarterly estimates while maintaining consistency with the more accurate annual source data.

Part of BEA’s international economic accounts, the ITAs summarize transactions between U.S. residents and foreign residents. The ITAs consist of three accounts: the current account records trade in goods and services, receipts and payments of income, and current transfers; the capital account records capital transfers, such as debt forgiveness and the acquisition or disposition of nonproduced nonfinancial assets; and the financial account records transactions for official assets, for U.S.

Part of BEA’s international economic accounts, the IIP accounts summarize the value of accumulated stocks of U.S.-owned assets abroad and of foreign-owned assets in the United States. The difference between the assets and liabilities is the net IIP of the United States. Separate statistics are available for the value of accumulated stocks of official assets, of U.S. government assets other than official reserve assets, of direct, portfolio, and other investment, and of financial derivatives.

Prepared by BEA, these accounts include the international transactions accounts and the international investment position accounts.

See “Intermediate inputs.”

A form of property income received by the owners of certain kinds of financial assets (such as deposits, debt securities, and loans) in return for their investment in those assets.

Intangible fixed assets—whether purchased or produced for own use— that are used repeatedly, or continuously, in the processes of production for at least a year. In the NIPAs, these products consist of software, of research and development, and of entertainment, literary, and artistic originals. (For practical reasons, the NIPAs include mineral exploration within its estimates of nonresidential structures, even though the output of mineral exploration can be considered to be an intellectual property product.)