Nancy and Richard Ruggles's seminal work on prices has a contemporary relevance for modern-day theorists and practitioners. These carefully selected essays provide a core analysis of pricing systems and the behavior and measurement of prices. Initially, the authors examine pricing systems and the role of prices in the theories of value and income distribution. They examine the theory of marginal cost pricing and the welfare basis of the marginal cost pricing principle before focusing on the problems of measuring price changes over time and space. They also examine the reliability of domestic price statistics and price indices and offer an evaluation of the wholesale price index. They expand this analysis to examine the behavior of prices, costs, wage rates and earnings in the United States economy, placing particular emphasis on inflation between 1950 and 1973 and on price stability and economic growth. This book will be invaluable to academics, statisticians and policymakers with an interest in micreoconomics and pricing.

In this book, Nancy and Richard Ruggles demonstrate their unique grasp of the measurement and analysis of macro and micro data and elucidate ways of integrating the two data sets. Their analysis of macrodata is used to examine the economic growth of the United States from the 1920s to the present day. They focus particularly on recession and recovery between 1929 and 1974 and the measurement of short-run economic growth. They also examine the measurement of saving, investment and capital formation in the United States. On a microeconomic level, they analyse economic intelligence in World War II, offer a study of fertility in the United States in the pre-war era and analyse longitudinal establishment data. Finally they integrating the two approaches to provide a method of providing a more complete picture of social and economic performance.

This volume reflects the pioneering contribution of Nancy and Richard Ruggles to the development of national accounts. It provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution of national accounting systems over the last 50 years. The book is divided into three parts: the evolution of national accounting, the United States national accounts and the United Nations system of national accounts. The authors look at the treatment of pensions, insurance, and value added in national accounting, and the relationship between national income accounting and economic policy. They then look at the conceptual basis and evolution of national accounting systems in the United States between 1947 and 1977 and the integrated economic accounts between 1947 and 1980. Finally, the book includes a review of the major issues in the United Nations system of national accounts, both in terms of measurement and in their applicability to economies in transition and developing countries.