Rules versus Discretion: Inference Gleaned from Greenbook Forecasts and FOMC Decisions

Michael Belongia and Peter Ireland

Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 2020, vol. 82, issue 1, 156-179

Abstract: From 1987 through 2013, the Federal Open Market Committee appears to have set its federal funds rate target with reference to Greenbook forecasts of the output gap and inflation and, at times, also to have made further adjustments to the funds rate as those forecasts were revised. If viewed in the context of the Taylor (1993) Rule, discretionary departures from the settings prescribed by Greenbook forecasts consistently presage business cycle turning points. Similarly, estimates from an interest rate rule with time‐varying parameters imply that, around such turning points, the FOMC responds less vigorously to information contained in Greenbook forecasts about the changing state of the economy. These results suggest possible gains from closer adherence to a rule with constant parameters.

Date: 2020
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