The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit economic research organization whose mission is to provide unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community. Created in 1920, the NBER initially focused on the NATIONAL INCOME ACCOUNTING work of Simon Kuznet. Early NBER studies included Wesley Mitchell’s analysis of BUSINESS CYCLES and Milton Friedman’s monetary theory research. NBER analysis states there have been 31 business cycles in the period from 1854 to 1999, 26 during peacetime and five during periods of war. The NBER is a prestigious organization with a membership of more than 500 economists, including 12 American recipients of the Nobel Prize in economics and numerous chairs of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. NBER associates focus on four areas of empirical research: developing new statistical measurements, estimating quantitative models of economic behavior, assessing the impacts of public policies on the U.S. economy, and projecting the effects of alternative policy proposals. The current major NBER research programs focus on aging, ASSET pricing, children, corporate finance, U.S. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, economic fluctuations and growth, health care and economics, international finance, international trade and INVESTMENT, labor, monetary economics, productivity, and public policy. The NBER is a major analytical THINK TANK whose research is closely watched and highly respected.