Toward a Firmer Basis of Economic Policy: The Founding of ... · toward a firmer basis of economic policy: the founding of the national bureau of economic research solomon fabricant*

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TOWARD A FIRMER BASIS OF ECONOMIC POLICY:

THE FOUNDING OF THE NATIONAL BUREAU

OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH

Solomon Fabricant*

1984

*Solomon Fabricant was an NBER Research Associate Emeritus at the time of his death in

1989. Born in Brooklyn in 1906, he received bachelors degrees from New York University and City

College. In 1930, he received a master’s degree in economics from Columbia University and joined the

NBER’s staff as a research assistant. After receiving his Ph. D. from Columbia in 1938, he began

teaching at New York University, where he became a full professor in 1948. Fabricant also served as

the NBER’s Director of Research from 1953 to 1965. He joined the NBER’s Board of Directors in

1955 and became a director emeritus in 1981. During his 50-year association with the NBER, he

produced research on such topics as manufacturing output and employment, business cycles,

government employment, and productivity change.