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P*: not the inflation forecaster's holy grail

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  • Lawrence J. Christiano

Abstract

This paper describes and evaluates P-Star (P*), a new method to forecast inflation trends which was introduced by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in the summer of 1989. The paper examines how well P* would have done, compared with eight other forecasting methods, had all of these methods been used to forecast inflation in the 1970s and 1980s. P* turns out to be not an exceptionally good or bad way to forecast inflation.

Suggested Citation

  • Lawrence J. Christiano, 1989. "P*: not the inflation forecaster's holy grail," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 13(Fall), pages 3-18.
  • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedmqr:y:1989:i:fall:p:3-18:n:v.13no.4
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    Cited by:

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    2. Reitz Stefan & Rülke Jan-Christoph & Stadtmann Georg, 2010. "Regressive Oil Price Expectations Toward More Fundamental Values of the Oil Price," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 230(4), pages 454-466, August.
    3. Reynard, Samuel, 2007. "Maintaining low inflation: Money, interest rates, and policy stance," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(5), pages 1441-1471, July.
    4. Gerlach, Stefan & Svensson, Lars E. O., 2003. "Money and inflation in the euro area: A case for monetary indicators?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(8), pages 1649-1672, November.
    5. Clark, Todd E. & West, Kenneth D., 2006. "Using out-of-sample mean squared prediction errors to test the martingale difference hypothesis," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 135(1-2), pages 155-186.
    6. Todd E. Clark & Kenneth D. West, 2005. "Using Out-of-Sample Mean Squared Prediction Errors to Test the Martingale Difference," NBER Technical Working Papers 0305, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Lars E. O. Svensson, 2000. "Does the P* Model Provide Any Rationale for Monetary Targeting?," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 1(1), pages 69-81, February.
    8. Hossein Hassani & Emmanuel Sirimal Silva, 2015. "A Kolmogorov-Smirnov Based Test for Comparing the Predictive Accuracy of Two Sets of Forecasts," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-20, August.
    9. Eric M. Leeper & Tao Zha, 2000. "Assessing simple policy rules: a view from a complete macro model," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2000-19, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    10. West, Kenneth D., 2006. "Forecast Evaluation," Handbook of Economic Forecasting, in: G. Elliott & C. Granger & A. Timmermann (ed.), Handbook of Economic Forecasting, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 3, pages 99-134, Elsevier.
    11. Stefan Reitz & Jan-Christoph Rülke & Georg Stadtmann, 2009. "Are oil-price-forecasters finally right? – Regressive expectations towards more fundamental values of the oil price," WHU Working Paper Series - Economics Group 09-04, WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management.
    12. Lillian Kamal, 2014. "Do GAP Models Still have a Role to Play in Forecasting Inflation?," The International Journal of Business and Finance Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 8(3), pages 1-12.
    13. Eric M. Leeper & Tao Zha, 2001. "Assessing simple policy rules: a view from a complete macroeconomic model," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 83(Jul), pages 83-112.
    14. Becsi, Zsolt & Duca, John V., 1994. "Adding bond funds to M2 in the P-Star model of inflation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 143-147, October.
    15. W A Razzak, 2002. "Monetary policy and forecasting inflation with and without the output gap," Reserve Bank of New Zealand Discussion Paper Series DP2002/03, Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
    16. Abdul Qayyum & Faiz Bilquees, 2005. "P-Star Model: A Leading Indicator of Inflation for Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 44(2), pages 117-129.
    17. Mujeri, Mustafa Kamal & Shahiduzzaman , Md & Islam, Md Ezazul, 2009. "Application of the P?Star Model for Measuring Inflationary Pressure in Bangladesh," Bangladesh Development Studies, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), vol. 32(1), pages 1-22, March.
    18. Jan Gottschalk & Susanne Bröck, 2000. "Inflationsprognosen für den Euro-Raum: wie gut sind P*-Modelle?," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 69(1), pages 69-89.
    19. Torre Cepeda Leonardo E. & Flores Segovia Miguel A., 2020. "Private Banking Credit and Economic Growth in Mexico: A State Level Panel Data Analysis 2005-2018," Working Papers 2020-17, Banco de México.
    20. Mariano, Roberto S. & Preve, Daniel, 2012. "Statistical tests for multiple forecast comparison," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 169(1), pages 123-130.
    21. Johannes Groeneveld, 1998. "From the ERM with Love: Monetary Spillover Effects to Austria," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 25(3), pages 331-345, January.
    22. Garcés Díaz Daniel, 2020. "On the Drivers of Inflation in Different Monetary Regimes," Working Papers 2020-16, Banco de México.

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    Keywords

    Forecasting; Inflation (Finance);

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