Search Results
Working Paper
Assessing U.S. Aggregate Fluctuations Across Time and Frequencies
We study the behavior of key macroeconomic variables in the time and frequency domain. For this purpose, we decompose U.S. time series into various frequency components. This allows us to identify a set of stylized facts: GDP growth is largely a high-frequency phenomenon whereby inflation and nominal interest rates are characterized largely by low-frequency components. In contrast, unemployment is a medium-term phenomenon. We use these decompositions jointly in a structural VAR where we identify monetary policy shocks using a sign restriction approach. We find that monetary policy shocks ...
Briefing
Moving Macroeconomic Analysis beyond Business Cycles
When analyzing macroeconomic data, it helps to separate longer-term trends from business cycle fluctuations, which may have distinct causes and respond differently to policy. This Economic Brief presents research that uses a novel methodology to establish stylized facts for four key macroeconomic variables for cycles of different durations. This brief makes the case that research and policy should focus on four aspects of economic fluctuations: a short-term component (cycles of less than two years), a business cycle component (cycles between two and eight years), a medium-term component ...