Let’s say someone gives you $2.5 million and asked you to come up with a name for a research center that tracks the value of stock prices over time. What would you call it?
Probably something rad like: The Market Emporium of Historical Volatility and Equity Performance (MEHVEP).
Well, someone already did it. And the University of Chicago’s Business School went with the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP).
Back in 1960, Booth finance professors Lawrence Fisher and James Lorie launched this center on the back of a $300,000 (in 1960s dollars) grant from Merrill Lynch. The center began doing analysis of historical prices and market behavior dating back to 1926.
Nearly 60 years later, the CRSP still provides historical stock data and related information on firms listed on the NYSE, Nasdaq, American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and Archipelago Exchange (ARCA).
And 60 years later, they still have the same name.
