The main topics treated in this conference volume are problems of
deflation and quality change, the adequacy of the data used to construct
the U.S. national accounts, and the broad theoretical evolution of the
U.S. national income and product accounts. As these topics suggest, this
volume represents a new stage in the study of national income and
product accounts in that emphasis is placed on the information content
of the system rather than on the structure of the accounts. This new
emphasis is highlighted by the inclusion of a discussion among prominent
users of the national accounts--Lawrence Klein, Otto Eckstein, Alan
Greenspan, and Arthur Okun--that indicates the difficulties that
confront those who utilize this information.