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Story: Economic thought

Charles Knight

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Charles Knight

Charles Knight was a civil servant in the 1860s and eventually became auditor general. He recognised that assessing outputs available to consumers should take into account the way that products from one industry could be inputs into another. This concept of ‘value added’ did not become part of international thinking until the 1920s and 1930s.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: 1/4-015414; F

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How to cite this page

Gary Hawke, Economic thought – Measuring progress, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/22303/charles-knight (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Gary Hawke, published 18 May 2010.