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This paper documents multivariate forecast disagreement among professional forecasters of the Euro area economy and discusses implications for models of heterogeneous expectation formation. Disagreement varies over time and is strongly counter-cyclical. Disagreement is positively correlated with general (economic) uncertainty. Aggregate supply shocks drive disagreement about the long-run state of the economy while aggregate demand shocks have an impact on the level of disagreement about the short-run outlook for the economy. Forecasters disagree about the structure of the economy and the degree to which individual forecasters disagree with the average forecast tends to persist over time. This suggests that models of heterogeneous expectation formation, which are currently not able to generate those last two features, need to be modified. Introducing learning mechanisms and heterogeneous signal-to-noise ratios could reconcile the benchmark model for disagreement with the observed facts.

This paper analyzes how the OECD revises potential output (PO) estimates after recessions. We show that downward revisions are substantial and mostly driven by supply shocks while PO estimates do not significantly react to demand shocks. In addition, revisions are partly caused by avoidable mismeasurement of PO before recessions. In particular, we show that the length of the preceding boom and pre-recession values of the current account balance and credit volumes are predictors of post-recession PO revisions. Our results call for improved methods for estimating PO and provide evidence against the existence of substantial hysteresis effects of demand shocks.

We present evidence that global vectorautoregressive (GVAR) models produce significantly more accurate recession forecasts than country-specific time-series models in a Bayesian framework. This result holds for most countries and forecast horizons as well as for several country groups.

We study forecasts for real GDP growth using a large panel of individual forecasts from 36 advanced and emerging economies during 1989–2010. We show that the degree of information rigidity in average forecasts is substantially higher than that in individual forecasts. Individual level forecasts are updated quite frequently, a behavior more in line "noisyâ€? information models (Woodford, 2002; Sims, 2003) than with the assumptions of the sticky information model (Mankiw and Reis, 2002). While there are cross-country variations in information rigidity, there is no systematic difference between advanced and emerging economies.

Die spürbare Dämpfung der Konjunktur in den Vereinigten Staaten infolge der Immobilienmarktkrise dürfte bis ins Jahr 2009 anhalten. Ein Vergleich mit den Verläufen von historischen Immobilienmarktabschwüngen in 15 Industrieländern sowie eine Analyse auf Basis eines vektorautoregressiven Modells lassen erwarten, dass sich die Wohnungsbaurezession wohl bis Mitte 2009 fortsetzten wird. Für die gesamtwirtschaftliche Produktion deuten alle Ergebnisse darauf hin, dass vor allem im ersten Halbjahr 2008 mit einer schwachen Entwicklung zu rechnen ist; dass es dabei zu einem deutlichen Rückgang der Produktion in beiden Quartalen kommt, ist jedoch nicht zwingend. Über den gesamten Immobilienmarktabschwung betrachtet, wird die Konjunktur aufgrund der starken Entwicklung während des vergangenen Sommerhalbjahres wahrscheinlich weniger in Mitleidenschaft gezogen werden als im Durchschnitt der historischen Krisen. Hierfür spricht nicht zuletzt das sehr niedrige Realzinsniveau.

Using European Commission real-time data, we show that potential output (PO) estimates were substantially and persistently revised downwards after the Great Recession. We decompose PO revisions into revisions of the capital stock, trend labor, and trend total-factor productivity (TFP). Initially, trend TFP revisions contribute most to the overall PO revisions while all three components are almost equally important in the longer run. Revisions of the capital stock happen quickly while revisions of trend labor, mainly driven by revisions of the non-accelerating wage rate of unemployment (NAWRU), are made gradually. The relative contributions of the components to overall PO revisions differ systematically across countries. This suggests that heterogeneous policies are needed to push different countries back to their previous growth paths.

Prognosen unterstützen maßgeblich die Wirtschaftspolitik. Ein wichtiges Merkmal für die Güte von Pro-gnosen ist neben ihrer Genauigkeit (betragsmäßig möglichst geringe Prognosefehler), ob sie im Durchschnitt nahe Null liegen (also unverzerrt sind). Sollten Prognosen, beispielsweise für die Zuwachsrate des Bruttoinlandsprodukts, systematisch zu optimistisch oder zu pessimistisch sein, so wären die daran ausgerichteten wirtschaftspolitischen Maßnahmen ebenfalls systematisch falsch.