COMPTABILITE NATIONALE A PRIX CONSTANTS ET A PRODUCTIVITE CONSTANTE

The problem of national accounting “at constant prices” is in fact a problem of comparability of time series, as changes in the price structure preclude any direct comparison of economic flows. If such accounts are established they will make it possible directly to compare the same flow at two different times in the economy as a whole, and this without leaving the influence of other flows out of account. This makes it possible both to synthesize and to undertake analytical comparisons. The accounts could then be used for the study of time series, for projections or for structural studies (e.g. the mechanisms underlying the changing pattern of income distrubution). The first part of this report sets out to study the main problems of compiling accounts at constant prices and to examine what conventions should be adopted. The second part of the report considers how productivity gains can be explicitly shown in the national accounts. The proposed study plan restores the symmetry between price and productivity. As in the accounts at constant prices, gap variables are introduced to measure productivity gains. These variables can be interpreted in terms of surplus; the concept of surplus used here, however, is not the one adopted for the accounts in constant prices, but its dual. Setting up an accounting system “at constant productivity” therefore makes it possible to complete the information provided by an accounting system “at constant prices.” These two systems can of course be integrated: this leads to the introduction of the concept of an accounting system “at constant prices and constant productivity.” Such an accounting system makes it possible to show, in the same accounting framework, the respective contributions of price changes and improved productivity to the gains realised by the different economic agents. It therefore gives a complete picture of “transfers” between the agents. At the same time, the data on price and productivity can be integrated with each other.     

LE SYSTEME ACTUEL DE COMPTABILITE NATIONALE ET LA PLANIFICATION

The present system of national accounting (revised SNA and existing national systems) is a good framework for physical projections of goods and services produced by enterprises. It is less well suited to planning in value terms, because data on income are poor and the system is badly adapted to analysis at the level of decision-making centers of the relationships of production, prices, income, and investment; the picture which it gives of the non-market economy is inadequate; and it yields a static view of successive states of the economy, the last accented by the scarcity of structural information. The usefulness of the accounts for the formation of economic policy varies greatly according to the problems considered. Important for general aspects of economic policy in the relatively short term, they are limited in terms of fine decisions on public intervention in the market economy, and for the relatively detailed study of economic policy in the public sector itself. These shortcomings, although in part remediable, raise questions concerning the scope, object, flexibility, and spacial and temporal coverage of national accounting. Finally, the newly emerging needs of planning, especially those arising from the extension of the dialogue between social groups, the attempts at planning in value terms, and the increasing interest in the non-market economy, suggest a need for some deconsolidation of the system. To answer these demands, a more flexible system is needed. Such a system might comprise two stages. One, a statistical framework and presentation of data, would remain close to business and public accounting. The other, a more abstract and elaborate framework for macro-economic analysis, would correspond in large part to the present system. This system would include, around the central nucleus, a number of satellite accounts, consistent with the nucleus but articulated with it by very flexible and diverse rules. It could be extended to new fields where quantification without valuation is possible.     

CONTRAINTES ET CHOIX ORGANISATIONNELS DANS LES DISPOSITIFS DE MONNAIES SOCIALES

RESUME ** :  Ce texte interroge les choix organisationnels relatifs aux dispositifs de monnaies sociales (comme les LETS, clubs de trueque argentins, etc.) en présentant un ensemble de possibilités et leurs implications. La question centrale est celle de la viabilité des dispositifs, avec l'idée selon laquelle des objectifs différents requièrent des choix organisationnels appropriés. Deux grands domaines sont explorés : d'abord, la taille des dispositifs et les catégories de personnes et d'échange; ensuite, les conditions de l'émission, de la circulation et de la convertibilité des monnaies. De chacune des options possibles découle un ensemble de contraintes. Les combinaisons de ces contraintes conduisent à identifier cinq modèles de monnaies sociales qui semblent cohérents relativement à leurs objectifs.     

KARL POLANYI ET LA PÉDAGOGIE DE L'INCOHÉRENCE

RESUME ** :  Cet article vise à examiner de manière critique et constructive l'actualité de la pensée de Karl Polanyi pour comprendre le développement de l'économie plurielle au XXIe siècle et pour agir sur celui-ci. Il montre la très grande actualité de cette pensée, ainsi que la nécessité de s'intéresser à l'œuvre entière de Karl Polanyi, et pas seulement à«La grande transformation>>. Partant des usages multiples du concept d'encastrement et de désencastrement, il relie les propositions inspirées par Karl Polanyi sur «le processus institué de démocratisation économique>>à des développements récents tant pratiques que théoriques: les «>marchés transitionnels du travail>> et la «nouvelle finance publique>>.     

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PAPAL ENCYCLICAL "MATER ET MAGISTRA"

Although the Annals is mainly concerned with developments in its own particular field, it cannot ignore trends of opinion or major doctrinal works. We have requested Canon lacques Leclercq to analyse the most recent Papal Encyclical, entitled Mater et Magistra , for us. As is customary in this review, the author has been left perfectly free to express his own views