----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- Given the time frame you are interested in, I suspect your starting point should be: J.W. Duncan and W.C. Shelton. Revolution in United States Government Statistics, 1926–1976, Washington, DC: US Department of Commerce, 1978. Though your interest in the CPI is different, you would probably find useful: M. Perlman ‘Political purpose and the national accounts’, in The Character of Economic Thought, Economic Characters and Economic Institutions: Selected Essays of Mark Perlman, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1996. This will give you some further references on national accounting. Roger Backhouse ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]