Introduction.

This book is a collection of essays on the use of cross-country data based on purchasing power parties. The two major applications are the development over time of per capita gross domestic products (including that of their inequalities among countries and regions) and the fitting of cross-country demand equations for broad groups of consumer goods. The present introductory chapter provides some of the highlights of these developments in relation to my careers in the Netherlands, Chicago, and Florida. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]