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“Who's Afraid of Arthur Burns?” The NBER and the Foundations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2009

Malcolm Rutherford
Malcolm Rutherford
Affiliation:
University of Victoria.
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Extract

The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) was founded in 1920 and quickly came to be regarded as one of the leading economic research organizations in the world. The NBER still exists today and still enjoys a high reputation, but the NBER of today bears little resemblance to the organization it once was. Between 1920 and the present the NBER has undergone a number of significant changes in form, function, and direction, and this history is one that includes moments of considerable drama. There were times of great financial stress, to the point where the future existence of the organization was in doubt, times when the organization seemed to be able to maintain a highly favored financial status despite outside criticism, and times of sharp conflict between the Bureau and its financial patrons.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the History of Economic Thought , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , June 2005 , pp. 109 - 139
Copyright
Copyright © The History of Economics Society 2005

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