Cuentas Nacionales

National account

National accounts or national account systems (NAS) are the implementation of complete and consistent accounting techniques for measuring the economic activity of a nation (more broadly termed, social accounts).

These include detailed underlying measures that rely on double-entry accounting. By construction such accounting makes the totals on both sides of an account equal even though they each measure different characteristics. As a method, the subject may be termed national accounting or social accounting. While sharing many common principles with business accounting, national accounts are based on economic concepts.

National accounts broadly present the production, income and expenditure activities of the economic actors (corporations, government, households) in an economy, including their relations with other countries' economies, and their wealth. They present both flows during a period and stocks at the end of a period, ensuring that the flows are fully reconciled with the stocks. National accounts also include measures of the stocks and flows of financial assets and liabilities (commonly called financial accounts or "flow of funds" accounts).

There are a number of aggregate measures in the national accounts, most notably gross domestic product or GDP - which is the most widely used measure of aggregate economic activity in a period - disposable income, saving and investment. These provide examples of macro-economic data. Such aggregate measures and their development over time are generally of strongest interest to economic policymakers, although the detailed national accounts contain a rich source of information for economic analysis, for example in the input-output tables which show how industries interact with each other in the production process.

For example, in the United States the national income and product accounts (NIPA) provide estimates for the money value of income and output respectively per year or quarter, including GDP. NIPA entries are called flows, to indicate that they are measured over time. Another application is the national balance sheet as to assets on one side, including the capital stock, and liabilities and wealth on the other, measured as of the end of the accounting period.

Entries here are called stocks, to indicate their accumulation to a point in time, as distinct from a flow, which is measured over time.

National accounts can be presented in nominal from real amounts, that is, correcting money totals for price changes over time. Economic growth rates (most commonly the growth rate of GDP) are generally measured in real (constant price) terms.

The accounts are derived from a wide variety of statistical source data including surveys, administrative and census data, and regulatory data, which are integrated and harmonized in the conceptual framework. They are usually compiled by national statistical offices and/or central banks in each country, though this is not always the case, and may be released on both an annual and (less detailed) quarterly frequency.

Two developments relevant to the national accounts since the 1980s include the following. Generational accounting is a method for measuring redistribution of lifetime tax burdens across generations from social insurance, including social security and social health insurance. It has been proposed as a better guide to the sustainability of a fiscal policy than budget deficits, which reflect only taxes

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