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Asymmetry, Complementarities, and State Dependence in Federal Reserve Forecasts

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  • JULIETA CAUNEDO
  • RICCARDO DICECIO
  • IVANA KOMUNJER
  • MICHAEL T. OWYANG
Abstract
Forecasts are a central component of policymaking; the Federal Reserve's forecasts are published in a document called the Greenbook. Previous studies of the Greenbook's inflation forecasts have found them to be rationalizable but asymmetric if considering particular subperiods, for example, before and after the Volcker appointment. In these papers, forecasts are analyzed in isolation, assuming policymakers value them independently. We analyze the Greenbook forecasts in a framework in which the forecast errors for different variables are allowed to interact. We find that allowing the losses to interact makes the unemployment forecasts virtually symmetric, the output forecasts symmetric prior to the Volcker appointment, and the inflation forecasts symmetric after the onset of the Great Moderation.

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  • Julieta Caunedo & Riccardo Dicecio & Ivana Komunjer & Michael T. Owyang, 2020. "Asymmetry, Complementarities, and State Dependence in Federal Reserve Forecasts," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 52(1), pages 205-228, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jmoncb:v:52:y:2020:i:1:p:205-228
    DOI: 10.1111/jmcb.12590
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    3. Mihaela SIMIONESCU, 2015. "The Evaluation of Global Accuracy of Romanian Inflation Rate Predictions Using Mahalanobis Distance," Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy, College of Management, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, vol. 3(1), pages 133-149, March.
    4. Siddhartha S. Bora & Ani L. Katchova & Todd H. Kuethe, 2021. "The Rationality of USDA Forecasts under Multivariate Asymmetric Loss," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(3), pages 1006-1033, May.
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    7. Garratt, Anthony & Petrella, Ivan & Zhang, Yunyi, 2023. "Asymmetry and interdependence when evaluating U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).

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    JEL classification:

    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

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