We interviewed agency program and budget officials and reviewed agency planning and budget documents that they provided to accomplish our other objectives to describe the agencies’ plans, funding, actions to implement other improvements the agencies made to economic statistics, and fiscal year 1995 budget requests for additional economic statistical improvements. The most serious problem noted by the working group was in measuring output and quality improvements to goods and services in a rapidly changing economy. Agencies Made Plans and Requested and Received at Least Partial Funding for Most ESI Recommendations

The federal agencies responsible for implementing the ESI recommendations made plans to implement most of them. Agencies’ Plans to Address ESI Recommendations Were Still in Progress

As of May 1994, the agencies’ plans were in various phases of completion. Agencies Requested Funding for Further Improvements in Fiscal Year 1995

According to agency officials, because ESI was never intended to address all the problems in economic statistics and because many of the plans for the ESI recommendations were not completed, further efforts were needed to improve the quality of economic statistics. As of December 31, 1994, $18 million in appropriations had been approved for the fiscal year. Senior policy officials expressed their views of what is still needed to address problems in economic statistics. Similarly, NBER’s 1989 Conference on Research on Income and Wealth focused on problems with economic statistics, particularly problems with measuring international transactions. Continue BLS and Census efforts to improve and modernize the current population survey and the current employment statistics program. Agency Plans

BLS did not make specific plans for this recommendation. Fiscal Year 1995 Funds Requested and Received for Economic Statistical Improvements

BEA, Census, BLS, and NASS requested more than $38 million and received more than $18 million in additional funding in fiscal year 1995 for economic statistical improvements. 6.)
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the actions taken by federal agencies to implement the Economics Statistics Initiative (ESI), focusing on: (1) the Council of Economic Advisers' (CEA) recommendations that comprise ESI and the context of their development; (2) the agencies' ESI implementation plans and the associated budget resources requested and received for fiscal year (FY) 1990 through FY 1994; (3) ESI implementation actions through May 1994; (4) other completed or ongoing major program improvements outside of ESI; and (5) FY 1995 budget resources requested and received for economic statistical improvements and the agencies' views on what is needed to make further statistical improvements.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) CEA made 38 near-term ESI recommendations to address well-known problems in economic statistics, particularly in measuring output and quality improvements to goods and services in a rapidly changing economy; (2) the federal agencies responsible for ESI implementation made plans to implement most of the ESI recommendations and requested more than $95 million and received about $50 million from FY 1990 through FY 1994 to implement their plans; (3) as of May 1994, most of the agencies' implementation plans were still in progress and agencies cited budget limitations for delaying their development; (4) some agencies considered other ongoing nonESI efforts to improve economic statistics responsive to ESI and did not make new plans; (5) the agencies believed further efforts were needed to improve economic statistics, since ESI was never meant to address all the problems with economic statistics and many ESI plans were not completed; (6) the agencies have requested $38 million for additional statistics improvements in FY 1995 and, as of December 1994, $18 million in appropriations had been approved; and (7) senior policy officials believe that more funding and better leadership is needed to further improve economic statistics.