Paper long abstract:

There were two kinds of statistical systems during the Cold War. The OECD's predecessor Organisation for European Economic Co-operation ‒ founded to help and administer the Marshall Plan ‒ commissioned a comprehensive statistical system so as to standardize the measurement of economic activities. Some years later, in 1953, its modified version became the official UN method called System of National Accounts. However, by that time another statistical system was already developed. At the beginning of the 1950s Eastern European countries adopted the Soviet Union's method. Despite the bipolar world system, UN could provide forum for these countries to share their experiences with each other. With the coordination of the Conference of European Statisticians numerous scientific projects were conducted, which had influence on both the official capitalist and socialist methods.

Examining the statistical problems of the era it can be seen, that a close relationship between statisticians of capitalist and socialist countries existed, and also that, scientific and political questions were strongly intertwined in this field. I will show both of these aspects in a case study of socialist Hungary, that had ample opportunity to form its own statistical methods: for a long time it was the only country, that officially accounted its national income both using a capitalist and a socialist method. György Péter, then head of Hungarian Central Statistical Office was the person participating in the UN, thus mediating between the international and Hungarian experts as well as being a main economic adviser of the Hungarian Socialist Labor Party.