As the 20th century drew to a close, the U.S.Department of Commerce embarked on a review of its achievements. At the conclusion of this review, the Department named the development of the national income and product accounts as "its achievement of the century." Below is a brief overview of the national accounts that describes their purpose, their development, their impact, and their future; the overview also includes short notes of appreciation on the improtance of GDP and the national accounts from prominent economists and officials responsible for U.S. fiscal and monetary policy. The overview is followed by remarks that were made at the press conference on December 7, 1999, that announced the Department's recognition of the national accounts:By the Secretary of Commerce, William M.Daley; the Chair of the Federal Reserve Board, Alan Greenspan; the Chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, Martin N.Baily; and Commerce's Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, Robert J.Shapiro. The recognition of the national accounts is a testimony not arily to Nobel laureate Simon Kuznets and the other economists who participated in their early development, business persons, policy officials, and others-have continually updated and improved the accounts over the years to make them as accurate, useful, and relevant today as they have been since their creation over 60 year ago.
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