The FOMC versus the Staff: Where Can Monetary Policymakers Add Value?

Christina Romer and David Romer

No 13751, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Should monetary policymakers take the staff forecast of the effects of policy actions as given, or should they attempt to include additional information? This paper seeks to shed light on this question by testing the usefulness of the FOMC's own forecasts. Twice a year, the FOMC makes forecasts of major macroeconomic variables. FOMC members have access to the staff forecasts when they prepare their forecasts. We find that the optimal combination of the FOMC and staff forecasts in predicting inflation and unemployment puts a weight of essentially zero on the FOMC forecast and essentially one on the staff forecast: the FOMC appears to have no value added in forecasting. The results for predicting real growth are less clear-cut. We also find statistical and narrative evidence that differences between the FOMC and staff forecasts help predict monetary policy shocks, suggesting that policymakers act in part on the basis of their apparently misguided information.

JEL-codes: E37 E52 E58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cba, nep-for, nep-mac and nep-mon
Note: EFG ME
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (136)

Published as Christina D. Romer & David H. Romer, 2008. "The FOMC versus the Staff: Where Can Monetary Policymakers Add Value?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 230-35, May.

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