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Working Paper
Sentiment in Central Banks' Financial Stability Reports
Using the text of financial stability reports (FSRs) published by central banks, we analyze the relation between the financial cycle and the sentiment conveyed in these official communications. To do so, we construct a dictionary tailored specifically to a financial stability context, which assigns positive and negative connotations based on the sentiment conveyed by words in FSRs. With this dictionary, we construct a financial stability sentiment (FSS) index. Using a panel of 35 countries for the sample period between 2005 and 2015, we find that central banks' FSS indexes are mostly driven ...
Working Paper
Gauging the Sentiment of Federal Open Market Committee Communications through the Eyes of the Financial Press
We apply natural language processing tools to news articles in the financial press to construct a sentiment index—an index of the perceived semantic orientation of monetary policy communications around scheduled Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings. To that end, we develop several dictionaries that capture various monetary policy tools: conventional monetary policy, asset purchases, and forward guidance. The surprises in the sentiment index around FOMC meetings announcements explain variation in major asset prices classes between May 1999 and November 2022. Sentiment index ...
Report
The Beige Book’s Value for Forecasting Recessions
Can the Beige Book help to tell us when a recession is coming? This question arises from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors’ description of the publication: “The qualitative nature of the Beige Book creates an opportunity to characterize dynamics and identify emerging trends in the economy that may not be readily apparent in the available economic data.” The report consists of summaries of current economic conditions nationally and in each of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts based on anecdotal information gathered from each District’s business contacts.