A blog from BEA Director Vipin Arora
BEA’s supply-use tables may be the unsung hero of economic accounting.
For many, that description immediately brings to mind images of some well-known superhero sidekicks. Yet when I take a step back and think about the impact of supply-use tables, I am reminded of something else entirely: shipping containers.
Cargo containers revolutionized international trade, maybe even created the modern supply chain. They also have been put to uses beyond shipping—as homes, and I recently saw one masquerading as a restaurant. Those rectangular metal boxes of uniform size and shape created a standard that met many needs. The same is true for BEA’s supply-use tables. They provide a standardized accounting framework which is the essential foundation of modern economic measurement and analysis.
Just like shipping containers standardized the flow of different goods for easier transport around the world, supply-use tables standardize a way to capture the flow of goods and services from one industry to another and to consumers. Together, these tables provide a detailed, comprehensive picture of economic activity. Supply-use tables figure prominently in BEA’s measure of gross domestic product and its major components as well as other important economic indicators.
Supply tables show the value of goods and services available in the U.S. economy, whether produced by domestic industries or imported. Use tables show how the supply of goods and services is used, including purchases by U.S. industries, individuals, and government as well as exports to buyers overseas.
And just like shipping containers, supply-use tables are also versatile. For example, they can be used to analyze global value chains—increasingly complicated supply chains that link many countries together to produce a good or service.
Supply-use tables are also the basis of BEA’s satellite, or thematic, accounts. These are supplementary statistics offering in-depth analysis of a specific part of the economy that aren’t easily seen within BEA’s core statistics. Such satellite accounts include arts and culture, outdoor recreation, and travel and tourism.