On the Macroeconomic Consequences of Over-Optimism

Paul Beaudry and Tim Willems

No 24685, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Is over-optimism about a country's future growth perspective good for an economy, or does over-optimism also come with costs? In this paper we document that recessions, fiscal problems, as well as Balance of Payment-difficulties are more likely to arise in countries where past growth expectations have been overly optimistic. We arrive at this conclusion by looking at the medium-run effects of instances of over-optimism or caution in IMF forecasts. To isolate the causal effect of over-optimism we take an instrumental variables approach, where we exploit variation provided by the pseudo-random allocation of IMF Mission Chiefs across countries. As a necessary first step, we document that IMF Mission Chiefs tend to systematically differ in their individual degrees of forecast-optimism or caution. The mechanism that transforms over-optimism into a later recession seems to run through higher debt accumulation, both public and private. Our findings illustrate the potency of unjustified optimism and underline the importance of basing economic forecasts upon realistic medium-term prospects.

JEL-codes: E03 E17 E32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hpe and nep-mac
Note: EFG IFM
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Published as Paul Beaudry & Tim Willems, 2022. "On the Macroeconomic Consequences of Over-Optimism," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, vol 14(1), pages 38-59.

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Journal Article: On the Macroeconomic Consequences of Over-Optimism (2022)
Working Paper: On the Macroeconomic Consequences of Over-Optimism (2018)
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