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• The National Bureau of Economic Research is a private, non-profit, non-partisan research organization founded in 1920 to promote a greater general understanding of economics. On December 1, 2008, the NBER officially declared that the U.S. has been in a recession since December of 2007.CNN: It's official: Recession since Dec. '07 (December 1, 2008)

• Fast Facts

  1. CEO and president: James PoterbaNational Bureau of Economic Research: NBER Information
  2. Over 1,000 researchers are involved in studies for NBER, most of whom are current professors of economics and businessNational Bureau of Economic Research: NBER Information
  3. Economic research funded by the NBER include work by Milton Friedman, Wesley Mitchell and Simon KuznetsNational Bureau of Economic Research: NBER Information
  4. The statement was made by the Business Cycle Dating CommitteeNew York Times: It’s Official: Recession Started One Year Ago (December 1, 2008)
  5. Committee is chaired by Robert Hall of Stanford University, and includes six other economistsNBER: Determination of the December 2007 Peak in Economic Activity (December 1, 2008)
  6. Christina Romer, president-elect Barack Obama's nomination for the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, resigned from the board on November 25, 2008 and did not participate in the decisionNBER: Determination of the December 2007 Peak in Economic Activity (December 1, 2008)
  7. This is the first official recession since 2001New York Times: It’s Official: Recession Started One Year Ago (December 1, 2008)

• Founding Principle of the NBER

  '"To encourage, in the broadest and most liberal manner, investigation, research, and discovery, and the application of knowledge to the well-being of mankind; and in particular to conduct, or assist in the making of, exact and impartial investigations in the fields of economic, social, and industrial science, and to cooperate with governments, universities, learned societies, and individuals."NBER: Toward a Firmer Basis of Economic Policy: The Founding of the National Bureau Of Economic Research (pdf) (1984)

• Five Precepts of the NBER

  1. Research should concentrate on determining facts that impact problems of economic policy
  2. That knowledge should be quantitative in nature
  3. The research should be in accordance with scientific principles
  4. The work should be done in a way to assure the public of its impartiality
  5. The board should abstain from making policy recommendationsNBER: Toward a Firmer Basis of Economic Policy: The Founding of the National Bureau Of Economic Research (pdf) (1984)

• Related Pages on Mahalo

  Christina Romer | Recession | 2008 Recession | How to Survive a Recession | 2008 Financial Crisis | Emily Oster | Steven Levitt | Jeffrey Sachs | Council of Economic Advisers | Obama Economic Team | National Economic Council | The Great Depression

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