National Accounts at a Glance 2009
National Accounts data is more than just GDP. This book, to be published annually, and its related database present national accounts in a way that reflects the richness inherent in the data and the value that represents for analysts and policymakers. It responds to the Stiglitz Commission’s recommendation that policymakers look beyond GDP to get a fuller picture of the entire economy.
In particular it uses national accounts data to show important findings about households and governments, including important new series on gross adjusted household income and non-financial fixed assets of households. It presents each of the series on a two-page spread, with the page on the left providing information on the meaning, usage, and comparability of the data and the page on the right presenting data from 1995 onwards for the OECD countries as well as graphics highlighting differences among countries.
This book includes OECD’s unique StatLink service, which enables readers to download Excel® versions of tables and graphs. Look for the StatLink at the foot of each table and graph.
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Total Expenditure
Section 11 described the concept of general government final consumption, reflecting the contribution government makes as a consumer of final goods and services for individual and collective consumption. Whilst useful in illustrating the scope for government to stimulate demand directly, it does not tell the full story. For a start the measure does not include GFCF of government which is an area where the scope to stimulate demand is considerable. But it also excludes other components of spending by government not recorded as final consumption, for example, debt interest payments, and cash transfers, such as social benefits, which, collectively, better reflect the size of government and its ability to stimulate demand, without changing taxes say, both directly and indirectly. The concept that best reflects this overall expenditure is referred to as general government expenditure. It reflects the total amount of expenditure by government that needs to be financed via revenues, such as taxation, and borrowing