The conceptual issues confronting compilers of price indices have not changed much over the years. They include the intractability of basic index-number problems, the practical difficulties of sampling and matching prices, and the uncertainties about the appropriate weighting scheme for...

The estimates of the gross national product (GNP) per capita in US dollars published in the World Bank Atlas are used throughout the world for comparing relative levels of income across countries. The Atlas method of calculating per capita GNP is designed to smooth effects of fluctuations in...