Bias in Official Fiscal Forecasts: Can Private Forecasts Help?

Jeffrey Frankel and Jesse Schreger

No 22349, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Government forecasts of GDP growth and budget balances are generally more over-optimistic than private sector forecasts. When official forecasts are especially optimistic relative to private forecasts ex ante, they are more likely also to be over-optimistic relative to realizations ex post. For example, euro area governments during the period 1999-2007 assiduously and inaccurately avoided forecasting deficit levels that would exceed the 3% Stability and Growth Pact threshold; meanwhile private sector forecasters were not subject to this crude bias. As a result, using private sector forecasts as an input into the government budgeting-making process would probably reduce official forecast errors for budget deficits.

JEL-codes: E62 H68 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-for, nep-mac and nep-net
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Working Paper: Bias in Official Fiscal Forecasts: Can Private Forecasts Help? (2016)
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