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Too Good to be True? The (In)credibility of the UK Inflation Fan Charts

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Abstract

This paper presents some simple methods to estimate the probability that realized inflation will breach a given inflation target range over a specified period, based on the Bank of England?s RPIX inflation forecasting model and the Monetary Policy Committee?s forecasts of the parameters on which this model is built. Illustrative results for plausible target ranges over the period up to 04Q1 indicate that these probabilities are low, if not very low, and strongly suggest that the Bank?s model over-estimates inflation risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin Dowd, 2004. "Too Good to be True? The (In)credibility of the UK Inflation Fan Charts," Occasional Papers 11, Industrial Economics Division, revised 11 Jan 2004.
    • Handle: RePEc:nub:occpap:11
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    1. Robert Dittmar & William T. Gavin & Finn E. Kydland, 1999. "The inflation-output variability tradeoff and price-level targets," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue Jan, pages 23-32.
    2. Bean, Charles, 1998. "The New UK Monetary Arrangements: A View from the Literature," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(451), pages 1795-1809, November.
    3. Wallis, Kenneth F., 2003. "Chi-squared tests of interval and density forecasts, and the Bank of England's fan charts," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 165-175.
    4. Nessen, Marianne & Vestin, David, 2005. "Average Inflation Targeting," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 37(5), pages 837-863, October.
    5. John C. Williams, 2003. "Simple rules for monetary policy," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, pages 1-12.
    6. Kenneth F. Wallis, 2004. "An Assessment of Bank of England and National Institute Inflation Forecast Uncertainties," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 189(1), pages 64-71, July.
    7. David L. Reifschneider & John C. Williams, 2000. "Three lessons for monetary policy in a low-inflation era," Conference Series ; [Proceedings], Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, pages 936-978.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inflation; inflation risk; fan charts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods
    • E47 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy

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