Jan-Christoph Rülke

Do professional economists’ forecasts reflect Okun's law? Some evidence for the G7 countries

Using survey data for the G7 countries, we report that professional economists’ forecasts of changes in the unemployment rate and the growth rate of real output are consistent with Okuns law. Professional economists do not believe in potential asymmetries in Okuns law over the business cycle. They believe in the classic linear version of Okuns law.

A Note on Forecasting Emerging Market Exchange Rates: Evidence of Anti-herding

Using survey forecasts of a large number of Asian, European, and South American emerging market exchange rates, we studied empirically whether evidence of herding or antiherding behavior of exchange-rate forecasters can be detected in the cross-section of forecasts. Emerging market exchange-rate forecasts are consistent with herding (anti-herding) if forecasts are biased towards (away from) the consensus forecast. Our empirical findings provide strong evidence of anti-herding of emerging market exchange-rate forecasters.

Oil price forecasting under asymmetric loss

Based on the approach developed by Elliott et al. (2005), we found that the loss function of a sample of oil price forecasters is asymmetric in the forecast error. Our findings indicate that the loss oil price forecasters incurred when their forecasts exceeded the price of oil tended to be larger than the loss they incurred when their forecast fell short of the price of oil. Accounting for the asymmetry of the loss function does not necessarily make forecasts look rational.

Is there a Core of Macroeconomics that Euro Area Forecasters Believe In

Abstract The quantity theory of money, Okun’s law, and the Phillips curve are cornerstones of macroeconomic theory. But are they also of practical relevance? Using survey data for the euro area, we found that professional economists’ forecasts are consistent with a version of the quantity theory in which forecasts of the growth rate of money supply correlate in a proportional way with forecasts of the inflation rate. We also found that forecasts of changes in the unemployment rate and forecasts of the growth rate of real output are consistent with Okun’s law. Evidence of a systematic link between forecasts of the inflation rate and forecasts of the unemployment rate, however, is not strong.

Exchange-rate forecasts and asymmetric loss: empirical evidence for the yen/dollar exchange rate

We used the yen/dollar exchange-rate forecasts of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) poll to analyse whether exchange-rate forecasters have an asymmetric loss function. To this end, we applied an approach recently developed by Elliott et al. (2005). We found that only few forecasters seem to form forecasts under an asymmetric loss function. For some forecasters, accounting for the asymmetry of their loss function makes their forecasts look rational.

A Note on Forecasting the Euro: Do Forecasters Have an Asymmetric Loss Function?

Based on the approach advanced by Elliott, Komunjer, and Timmermann (2005), we analyzed whether the loss function of a sample of exchange-rate forecasters is asymmetric in the forecast error. Using forecasts of the dollar/euro exchange rate, we found that the shape of the loss function varies across forecasters. Some forecasters appear to make forecasts under an asymmetric loss function, while a symmetric loss function seems to describe well the loss function of other forecasters. Accounting for an asymmetric loss function does not necessarily make forecasts ‘look’ rational.

On the directional accuracy of survey forecasts: the case of gold and silver

We use a nonparametric market-timing test to study the directional accuracy of survey forecasts of the prices of gold and silver. We find that forecasters have market-timing ability with respect to the direction of change of the price of silver at various forecast horizons. In contrast, forecasters have no market-timing ability with respect to the direction of change in the gold price. Combining forecasts of both metal prices to set up a multivariate market-timing test yields no evidence of joint predictability of the directions of change of the prices of gold and silver.

On the internal consistency of the term structure of forecasts of housing starts

We use the term structure of forecasts of housing starts to test for rationality of forecasts. Our test is based on the idea that short-term and long-term forecasts should be internally consistent. We test the internal consistency of forecasts using data for Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States. Using a simple model of forecast formation, we find that forecasts are not internally consistent, leading to a rejection of forecast rationality.

On the Internal Consistency of Stock Market Forecasts

Using the Livingston survey data, we test internal consistency restrictions on short-term, medium-term, and long-term stock market forecasts of the S&P 500®. We find that neither short-term forecasts are consistent with medium-term forecasts nor that medium-term forecasts are consistent with long-term forecasts. Using a forecast formation process featuring a distributed lag structure, however, we find some weak evidence of internal inconsistency of medium-term forecasts with long-term forecasts.

Do interest-rate forecasters herd? International evidence

Results of earlier empirical research on whether survey data on forecasts of interest rates exhibit signs of forecaster herding are mixed. We reconsider the question of forecaster herding using a large international data set of interest-rate forecasts. We do not find much evidence of forecaster herding. Rather, forecasters seem to anti-herd, that is, they seem to intentionally scatter their interest-rate forecasts around the consensus forecast.