The BEA Wire | BEA's Official Blog
Granularity: Even More Economic Detail Coming Your Way
A blog post from BEA Director Vipin Arora
We use the word “granular” a lot at BEA. It’s not a term that comes up much in day-to-day conversation elsewhere. When I first started hearing it here regularly, I always pictured salt. As in granulated salt. That isn’t crazy—apparently granularity first entered the English language in the 17th century to describe texture. It’s slowly evolved to mean level of detail, which is how we use…
The Making of Gross National Product and the Nation’s Security
A blog post from BEA Director Vipin Arora
Throughout our history, BEA’s statistics have been developed and used for many purposes. Whether to shed light on the flow of goods and services abroad; compare buying power from one metropolitan area to another; or highlight the income available for saving or spending—and much, much more—our statistics are used by people all over the country. That includes data users…
Faster Release of Personal Income, Outlays: Same Time as GDP
A blog post from BEA Director Vipin Arora
Every month, Americans eagerly anticipate BEA’s GDP and personal income and outlays estimates. These statistics are essential for understanding, for instance, how fast our economy is growing, or how rapidly the incomes of people across the country are rising.
Better Together: International Transactions and International Investment Position
A blog post from BEA Director Vipin Arora
Have you ever noticed how some things just go better together? Probably tops on my list are peanut butter and chocolate—neither one is the same without the other. But don’t forget about raisins and bran or watermelon and feta cheese (surprisingly better than it sounds).
Coming Soon: National, Industry, and State GDP (and More) United in One News Release
A blog post from BEA Director Vipin Arora
A couple of years ago, I wrote about our success in harmonizing BEA’s national, industry, and regional statistics. This was a monumental achievement. It ensured that for any given update, the national, industry, and regional statistics cover the same periods, use the same vintages of underlying source data, and are based on comparable methods and classification frameworks.
Like Menominee and Marinette, BEA’s Economic Accounts Are Linked Together
A blog post from BEA Director Vipin Arora
My son and I recently visited the twin cities of Menominee in Michigan and Marinette in Wisconsin for the first time. We strolled along the pier in Menominee before driving along the bay in Marinette. What a treat! I later found out that these two cities share a rich economic history – stretching back to the 19th century – as they developed together into a manufacturing hub. That…
How BEA Prioritizes Research
A blog post from BEA Director Vipin Arora
BEA produces some of the world’s most closely watched economic statistics. That’s because we’re laser focused on delivering innovative statistics that keep pace with the U.S. economy. To do this, we ensure that our research—which lays the foundation for keeping our statistics as timely, accurate, and relevant as possible—prioritizes improving measurement in five key areas.
Source Data: The Foundation for Valuable Economic Statistics
A blog post from BEA Director Vipin Arora
I’ve always thought that a good analogy for the way we develop our economic estimates at BEA is how a master watchmaker constructs a watch. The watchmaker starts with a blueprint for the design of the watch, just as we begin with the methods of our world-leading economic accounts. Based on that design, the watchmaker carefully selects and assembles the components of the watch. Similarly,…
BEA’s Long History of Measuring Direct Investment: Critical Intel for Global Strategies
A blog from BEA Director Vipin Arora
During the 1920s, Americans began investing more abroad than other countries were investing in the United States. This marked an important shift in U.S. foreign investment, and reversed the pattern seen before World War I. Around the same time, BEA began producing direct investment statistics—both U.S. direct investment abroad, or USDIA, and foreign direct investment in the United States, or…
Formula 1 Cars and Economic Statistics
A blog post from BEA Director Vipin Arora (Updated Jan. 15, 2026, to reflect post-shutdown release schedule.)
A friend of mine recently went on vacation just to drive fast cars on a professional racetrack. Swiping through endless pictures, my friend waxed lyrical about each car’s acceleration. I share his enthusiasm to go faster—for different reasons. I crunch numbers for a living, so when I hear acceleration, I think about how…
Expansion of State and Local Economic Stats Spurred by Innovations
A blog post from BEA Director Vipin Arora
A consistent theme throughout the history of BEA and its forerunners—driven by significant public and policymaker demand—is the expansion of our regional statistics. This expansion began with the publication of our first annual statistics on state income payments in 1939, and has continued since.
Need Info on Regional Impacts? RIMS II Is for You
A blog from BEA Director Vipin Arora
In the alphabet soup of BEA acronyms, you’ve probably heard of GDP (gross domestic product). You might have heard of PCE (personal consumption expenditures, a fancy word for consumer spending). And you may have come across DPI (disposal personal income). But have you ever heard of RIMS II?