Journal Article

An evaluation of real GDP forecasts: 1996-2001


Abstract: During the second half of the 1990s, forecasters made large and persistent underpredictions of GDP growth; subsequently, they missed the drop off into the recession of 2001. Forecasters do not appear to have behaved unusually during this period: Their out-period forecasts were not far from their perceptions of longer-run trends. This suggests that the forecast errors in 1996-2001 likely reflected some unusual behavior in the economy.

Keywords: Gross domestic product;

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Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Part of Series: Economic Perspectives

Publication Date: 2003

Volume: 27

Issue: Q I