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Has U.S. Inflation Really Become Harder to Forecast?

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  • Lanne, Markku
  • Luoto, Jani

Abstract

Recently Stock and Watson (2007) showed that since the mid-1980s it has been hard for backward-looking Phillips curve models to improve on simple univariate models in forecasting U.S. inflation. While this indeed is the case when the benchmark is a causal autoregression, little change in forecast accuracy is detected when a noncausal autoregression is taken as the benchmark. In this note, we argue that a noncausal autoregression indeed provides a better characterization of U.S. inflation dynamics than the conventional causal autoregression and it is, therefore, the appropriate univariate benchmark model.

Suggested Citation

  • Lanne, Markku & Luoto, Jani, 2010. "Has U.S. Inflation Really Become Harder to Forecast?," MPRA Paper 29992, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:29992
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lanne, Markku & Luoto, Jani & Saikkonen, Pentti, 2012. "Optimal forecasting of noncausal autoregressive time series," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 623-631.
    2. Markku Lanne & Arto Luoma & Jani Luoto, 2012. "Bayesian Model Selection And Forecasting In Noncausal Autoregressive Models," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(5), pages 812-830, August.
    3. James H. Stock & Mark W. Watson, 2007. "Why Has U.S. Inflation Become Harder to Forecast?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 39(s1), pages 3-33, February.
    4. Lanne Markku & Saikkonen Pentti, 2011. "Noncausal Autoregressions for Economic Time Series," Journal of Time Series Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 3(3), pages 1-32, October.
    5. Lanne, Markku & Saikkonen, Pentti, 2008. "Modeling Expectations with Noncausal Autoregressions," MPRA Paper 8411, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. James H. Stock & Mark W. Watson, 2007. "Why Has U.S. Inflation Become Harder to Forecast?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 39(s1), pages 3-33, February.
    7. Andrew Atkeson & Lee E. Ohanian, 2001. "Are Phillips curves useful for forecasting inflation?," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 25(Win), pages 2-11.
    8. Breid, F. Jay & Davis, Richard A. & Lh, Keh-Shin & Rosenblatt, Murray, 1991. "Maximum likelihood estimation for noncausal autoregressive processes," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 175-198, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Markku Lanne & Jani Luoto, 2017. "A New Time‐Varying Parameter Autoregressive Model for U.S. Inflation Expectations," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 49(5), pages 969-995, August.
    2. Lanne, Markku & Luoto, Jani & Saikkonen, Pentti, 2012. "Optimal forecasting of noncausal autoregressive time series," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 623-631.
    3. Telg, Sean, 2024. "Time aggregation of mixed causal–noncausal models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    4. Alain Hecq & Daniel Velásquez-Gaviria, 2025. "Spectral estimation for mixed causal-noncausal autoregressive models," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(7), pages 939-962, August.
    5. Lanne Markku, 2015. "Noncausality and inflation persistence," Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 19(4), pages 469-481, September.
    6. Bao Yong & Zhang Ru, 2013. "Estimation Bias and Feasible Conditional Forecasts from the First-Order Moving Average Model," Journal of Time Series Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 63-80, July.

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    JEL classification:

    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

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