ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the developments in estimating national income and the transition to national accounting. It also discusses the key steps in the development of national accounting both in theory and in practice. The first section deals with the development of the national accounting frameworks under different social and economic systems, culminating in the United Nations' System of National Accounts issued in 1993 and updated in 2008. A second section focuses on the role of Keynes and the interactions between accountants and economists in the 1940s. Literature dealing with developments in specific countries is referred to in the third section. As differences between ideologies with respect to state intervention have an impact on national accounting, some examples are discussed in the fourth section. The chapter provides a detailed discussion of the relationship between the development of UK national accounting and macroeconomics, and highlights the role of Keynes, Stone, Meade and Frank Sewell Bray.
