Transcript Session 4: Discussion Talk Shlomo Yitzhaki Director

!4 July 2009
National Accounts: The Way Forward?
Shlomo Yitzhaki
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Considerations regarding future revisions of SNA
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Justification, criteria, implementability considerations for
revisions – developing country perspective
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Kirsten Wismer, Director of Economic Statistics, Statistics
Denmark
Omi Kelsom Elias, Director, National Accounts Statistics Division,
Department of Statistics, Malaysia
Governance, mandate and functions
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Karen Wilson, Director General, System of National Accounts
Branch, Statistics Canada
Targets of National Accounts
International comparisons of level of wellbeing (or Economic Strength)
Internal purpose: identifying the business
cycle
Changes in the environment
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Globalization (multi-national production,
trade)
High-tech –Winner takes all
Service economy
Financial Sector (risk analysis)
Users’ Demands
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Adjustment to Growth Theory
Usefulness in predicting crisises
Evaluation of Government Efficiency
Stiglitz Report
Accrual Accounting: Pensions, Human
Capital, reputation, risk …etc..
Is it a question of administrative
capacity
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Prices are a function of income
distribution and income distribution is a
function of prices
Difference between value and price
(19th century water vs. diamonds).
Non-tradable
Difference in valuation of non-market
activity (e.g. human capital as a
consumption good, over education).
The starting point
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Easy to make irrelevant valuations
Need to prevent comparison of noncomparable (unobserved economy,
Different involvement of government)
different
Imputations: need to differentiate
between stocks and flows
Conclusion: No easy solution
Stat-Denmark
recommendations
No continuous updating and stability
Required for comparability both over time
and between countries
25 years – seems like a starting offer
Procedures laid down up front – reasonable
Close cooperation with other statistical areas not clear. Who is responsible?
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STAT-Denmarkrecommendations
NA is a core of a broader…
A recommendation for satellite
accounts – less ambitious more
practical
Governance- Statistics Canada
Establishing of research agendaacademic views
Question: May be unbalanced
Consensus building process
Question: How to do it?
Final Governance..
Question: Is there an alternative?
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