Friday, April 4, 2014

Playing With the FRB/US Model

Via both Mark Thoma and Gareth Thomas, I learned about a new initiative at the Federal Reserve Board. The details are available here.

In summary:
"The FRB/US model of the U.S. economy is one of several that Federal Reserve Board staff consults for forecasting and the analysis of macroeconomic issues, including both monetary and fiscal policy. FRB/US has long been available to members of the public upon request. To reduce the costs of providing updates of the model specification and databases, and to make the public more broadly aware of the model's availability, a new page has been introduced on the Federal Reserve Board's website from which interested users can download expanded FRB/US documentation; model equations, coefficients, and data; and sample simulation programs. These simulation programs can be run by anyone with access to the EViews software package, a widely available commercial product. This note provides a brief summary of the main features of the model, illustrates some applications of the model using sample programs provided on the web page, and concludes with an overview of the contents of the web page. Because the model continues to undergo changes as both economic theory and empirical evidence evolve, any given model release reflects only the state of thinking at the time of the release."
This a fabulous resource, and I'll certainly be making use of it in my teaching!


© 2014, David E. Giles

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