 Financial-cycle ratios and medium-term predictions of GDP: Evidence from the United StatesInternational Journal of Forecasting, 2024, vol. 40, issue 2, 777-795 Abstract: Using a large quarterly macroeconomic dataset for the period 1960–2017, we document the ability of specific financial ratios from the housing market and firms’ aggregate balance sheets to predict GDP over medium-term horizons in the United States. A cyclically adjusted house price-to-rent ratio and the liabilities-to-income ratio of the non-financial non-corporate business sector provide the best in-sample and out-of-sample predictions of GDP growth over horizons of one to five years, based on a wide variety of rankings. Small forecasting models that include these indicators outperform popular high-dimensional models and forecast combinations. The predictive power of the two ratios appears strong during both recessions and expansions, stable over time, and consistent with well-established macro-finance theory. Keywords: Financial cycle; Housing market; Firm debt; GDP forecasts; Crisis; Price–rent ratio; Medium term (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:intfor:v:40:y:2024:i:2:p:777-795 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijforecast.2023.05.007 Access Statistics for this article International Journal of Forecasting is currently edited by R. J. Hyndman More articles in International Journal of Forecasting from Elsevier |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.