The Survey of Current Business is 100! We are pleased to present a look back at a century of achievements and innovation highlighting each decade of its history with original articles, reprints from the BEA archives, profiles of top influencers, downloadable posters, and other historical content.
Reprint
The Evolution of U.S. National Income Accounting
BEA staff introduce reprints of a 1934 report to the U.S. Senate on the first national income statistics and an article on the history of the national income and product statistics, from the February 2007 Survey.
September 2020
Economic influencer
Robert Nathan: A Pioneer in National Income Accounting
This top influencer profile chronicles the economist's contributions.
September 2020
[Click to expand]
[The above advertisements appear in the October 1934, November 1937, May 1938, June 1938, and November 1939 issues.]
During the 1930s, the Survey of Current Business began running advertisements for Department of Commerce products. These ads were usually on the inside front or inside back covers of the publication. Featured here are some of the more visually interesting ads from the 1930s.
[Click to expand]
Advertisements appeared in the Survey for the Department of Commerce's 1936 and 1937 Foreign Trade Weeks reports. The 1937 report also commemorated the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce.
[Click to expand]
A glimpse into the production of the Survey during its early years is shown here in the first Survey-published message from a Bureau director in March 1938. Note that a different division within the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce would take over publishing the Survey in September 1938.
[Click to expand]
Advertisements appeared in the Survey for the 1929–1932 and 1929–1937 National Income in the United States reports, both updated editions of the groundbreaking National Income, 1929–32 report.
