Capital, income and product

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This book explores national accounts, a topic often overlooked by economists today, despite its foundational significance established by figures like Adam Smith and Richard Stone. The subject has been largely relegated to statistical departments, resulting in a gap in the education of economics graduates who often lack mastery in this area. The text aims to fill this educational void by uncovering the economic principles embedded in national accounts, presenting a comprehensive theory of economic value through rigorous analysis. It emphasizes that understanding capital, income, and product requires familiarity with their empirical representation within national accounts. While economics is viewed as a hard science due to its mathematical foundations, its truths emerge not from laboratories but from the unique historical context of a national economy. The book is structured in three parts: the first revisits the contrasting economic ideas of Wasilij Leontief and Léon Walras; the second focuses on the theory of economic value, applying it to the measurement of real value across time and nations, and proposing solutions to consistency issues; the third addresses contemporary challenges like income inequality and international trade disparities, offering statistical proposals for improved empirical analysis. An epilogue provides a philosophical reflection on the work as a whole.