National Bureau of Economic Research

• 1. Progressive Era Foundations

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  The National Bureau of Economic Research opened its doors in 1920 during heated debates over income distribution. Malcolm Rorty and Nachum Stone founded the organization to fill a critical gap in economic data. Columbia University professor Wesley Clair Mitchell served as the first director of research for twenty-five years. Early projects measured labor's share of national income while studying unemployment patterns. The Carnegie Foundation and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Foundation provided initial financial support alongside various corporations.

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• 2. Mid-Century Research Expansion

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  Arthur Burns succeeded Mitchell as research director after World War II ended. The 1950s and 1960s featured groundbreaking work by Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz on monetary policy impacts. Burns became NBER president in 1956 before John R. Meyer took over in 1967. Meyer introduced two new journals and established offices in multiple cities across the country. Labor economics research flourished significantly during this post-war expansion period under their leadership.

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• 3. Feldstein Transformation Era

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  Martin S. Feldstein became president in 1977 and transformed the organization completely. He moved headquarters to Cambridge, Massachusetts and expanded the network of university-based affiliates. The Working Paper Series launched under his direction to distribute research findings rapidly. Feldstein also initiated the NBER Summer Institute held annually each July. James Poterba succeeded him in 2008 continuing the expansion of affiliated researchers and programs.

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• 4. Nobel Laureate Network

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  Simon Kuznets received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1971 for developing U.S. national income accounts. Peter Howitt won the award in 2025 while Daron Acemoglu claimed it in 2024. Claudia Goldin secured the prize in 2023 and Ben Bernanke followed in 2022. Joshua Angrist and David Card both received awards in 2021 alongside Guido Imbens. Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo shared the honor in 2019 with Michael Kremer.

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• 5. Business Cycle Dating Authority

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  The Business Cycle Dating Committee declared the Great Recession ended in June 2009 after a conference call in September 2010. This committee defines recessions as significant declines in economic activity lasting more than a few months. Media outlets often define recessions simply as two consecutive quarters of shrinking gross domestic product. The NBER examines real GDP, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales instead. Eight distinguished economists selected by the president make these retrospective decisions without publicizing meetings.

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• 6. Modern Funding And Influence

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  James Poterba leads the organization today as president and CEO from MIT. The NBER distributes over 1,200 new research studies annually while holding around 125 meetings each year. Government agencies like the National Institutes of Health provide grants alongside private foundations such as the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. A 2010 University of Pennsylvania report ranked the institution as the second most influential domestic economic policy think tank. Income from investment portfolios supplements contributions from corporate donors and individual supporters.

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