Proposed Definitional and Statistical Changes Effects of Incorporating the 1997 Benchmark I - O Accounts

HIS article presents preliminary revised estimates of the major aggregates and components of gross domestic product (GDP) within the national income and product accounts (NIPA’s) for 1997. These estimates reflect the newly available benchmark inputoutput (I-O) accounts for 1997, which were published in the December 2002 SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS.1 This article also identifies some of the proposals that are being considered for the upcoming comprehensive revision of the NIPA’s, which BEA plans to release in late 2003 (see the box “NIPA Revision Cycle”). The benchmark I-O accounts are the single most important statistical source for the comprehensive revisions of the NIPA’s. The I-O accounts are used to establish the NIPA level of GDP for the benchmark year, and they provide critical information for estimating GDP for periods after the benchmark year. For the NIPA estimates for the benchmark year, the I-O accounts provide the information that is used to