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Journal Article
How accurate are macroeconomic forecasts?
Journal Article
How well do financial markets predict the inflation rate?
Journal Article
How fast can we grow?
Nearly thirty years ago, Arthur Okun posed the question, "How much output can the economy produce under conditions of full employment?" He offered a "simple and direct" answer that now, with the benefit of hindsight, seems outmoded and inadequate. This article argues that a minor modification of Okuns procedure based on demographics can adequately account for changes in the potential growth rate over the last 35 years and provide an idea of what to expect in the next ten years. Specifically, it is suggested that changes in the composition and rate of growth of the working-age population ...
Journal Article
Assessment of the \"official\" economic forecasts
While many studies have evaluated the accuracy of "official" economic forecasts, this study may be the first published analysis of the Federal Open Market Committee's "Humphrey- Hawkins" forecasts. In this article, the "official" forecasts generated by the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) are analyzed and compared to each other as well as to forecasts made by the private sector. The findings for the one-year-ahead forecasts reconfirm that the CEA, CBO, and private sector forecasts are about equally ...
Journal Article
Diversity, uncertainty, and accuracy of inflation forecasts
Uncertainty is a key concept in both economic theory and economic practice. Yet, economic forecasts are usually stated as single numbers, or "point estimates," that convey no information about the full array of possible outcomes. The dispersion of individual forecasters' point estimates is often used as an approximation of forecast uncertainty, even though it is neither logically nor empirically related. In fact, the diversity of point estimates is a poor guide to the accuracy of a point estimate forecast. ; This article examines explicit estimates of forecast uncertainty, taken from the ...
Journal Article
\"Whither New England\"?
This article attempts to identify precursors, or indicators, of New England employment. The predictive power of a diverse array of variables is calculated and compared. However, because no single variable is likely to contain all information of predictive value, the article then explores alternative methods of combining several variables into an index or statistical "model" of New England employment growth. The variables are separated into regional, national, and expectational in order to measure the predictive value of each type of information. ; In both in-sample and out-of-sample tests, ...
Journal Article
Estimating GNP: the trade-off between timeliness and accuracy
Journal Article
The discount rate: the other tool of monetary policy
Although open market operations are clearly the primary monetary policy tool, the discount rate is not without influence. Federal Reserve Banks propose any discount rate changes, and the Board of Governors decides whether to accept, reject, or take no action on their requests. This article examines the involvement and influence of the various Reserve Banks in this process, exploring their participation over a 20-year period. The historical analysis shows that Reserve Banks differ in the frequency, persistence, and direction of their proposals for change. ; The article also develops ...