Survey of Current Business Online
In July 2013, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its 14th comprehensive revision of the national income and product accounts (NIPAs). Comprehensive, or benchmark, revisions occur roughly every 5 years and incorporate significant improvements aimed at better reflecting a dynamic economy. This year’s comprehensive revision included changes to the way the NIPAs treat research and development; movies, books, television shows, and other artistic originals; pension contributions; and residential assets. This month, we’re pleased to provide an article summarizing the main changes and their effect on key NIPA measures. In general, the picture of the economy shown in the revised estimates is similar in broad outline to the picture shown in the previous estimates.