Knowra Wesley Clair Mitchell Wesley Clair Mitchell Wesley Clair Mitchell (1874–1948) was an American economist who studied business cycles empirically and helped establish the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Thorstein Veblen : An American economist and sociologist who criticized conspicuous consumption and helped found institutional economics. Veblen taught Mitchell at the University of Chicago and influenced his institutional approach.
Business cycle : A recurring fluctuation in economic activity involving expansions and contractions in output, employment, and income. Business cycles were the central phenomenon Mitchell sought to describe and explain.
Institutional economics : An economic tradition that studies how institutions, habits, and social rules shape economic behavior. Mitchell approached economic activity as historically formed behavior, not merely abstract exchange.
NBER recession dating : The National Bureau of Economic Research process for identifying peaks and troughs in U.S. economic activity. This practice extends the NBER’s effort to classify cycles using broad economic evidence.
John Maurice Clark : An American economist known for work on business cycles, competition, and social control of business. Clark continued and developed institutionalist research connected to Mitchell’s work.
Business Cycles : A 1913 book by Wesley Clair Mitchell examining recurring fluctuations in economic activity. This major study set out Mitchell’s empirical account of cyclical economic change.
Empirical research : Investigation that uses observation or measurement to evaluate claims about the world. Mitchell’s work depended on systematic evidence about prices, output, and business activity.
National income accounting : The system for measuring a nation’s production, income, and expenditure in a consistent framework. Mitchell’s institutional research environment supported the development of comprehensive economic measurement.
Arthur F. Burns : An American economist who led the National Bureau of Economic Research and later chaired the Federal Reserve. Burns extended the NBER’s business-cycle research tradition Mitchell helped build.
National Bureau of Economic Research : A private American research organization that produces and disseminates economic data and analysis. Mitchell helped create the institution that became a center for measuring business cycles.
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