Ludwig (Interview)
About the CIA and a glass of red wine ... Professor Dr Udo Ludwig on the...
See page
Loose (Interview)
When there were almost no flats in Halle yet ... Brigitte Loose about IWH's...
See page
Publications
Tracking Weekly State-Level Economic Conditions ...
See page
Inflation Puzzles, the Phillips Curve and Output Expectations: New Perspectives from the Euro Zone
Alessandro Sardone, Roberto Tamborini, Giuliana Passamani
Empirica,
February
2022
Abstract
Confidence in the Phillips Curve (PC) as predictor of inflation developments along the business cycle has been shaken by recent “inflation puzzles” in advanced countries, such as the “missing disinflation” in the aftermath of the Great Recession and the “missing inflation” in the years of recovery, to which the Euro-Zone “excess deflation” during the post-crisis depression may be added. This paper proposes a newly specified Phillips Curve model, in which expected inflation, instead of being treated as an exogenous explanatory variable of actual inflation, is endogenized. The idea is simply that if the PC is used to foresee inflation, then its expectational component should in some way be the result of agents using the PC itself. As a consequence, the truly independent explanatory variables of inflation turn out to be the output gaps and the related forecast errors by agents, with notable empirical consequences. The model is tested with the Euro-Zone data 1999–2019 showing that it may provide a consistent explanation of the “inflation puzzles” by disentangling the structural component from the expectational effects of the PC.
Read article
IWH Forecasting Dashboard
IWH Forecasting Dashboard The objective of the IWH Forecasting Dashboard ...
See page
IWH-Flash-Indikator I. Quartal und II. Quartal 2022
Katja Heinisch, Oliver Holtemöller, Axel Lindner, Birgit Schultz
IWH Flash Indicator,
No. 1,
2022
Abstract
Nach der wirtschaftlichen Erholung im Sommerhalbjahr kam es im vierten Quartal 2021 wieder zu einem kräftigen Rückschlag. Das Bruttoinlandsprodukt sank um 0,7%, nachdem es im Vorquartal trotz der Probleme durch Lieferengpässe noch um 1,7% zugelegt hatte. Der Aufschwung wird wohl auch im ersten Quartal 2022 gedämpft sein, da die Infektionszahlen in Deutschland anders als in einigen anderen europäischen Ländern derzeit kräftig steigen und noch starke Pandemierestriktionen gelten. Auch die anhaltend kräftige Inflation dürfte Bremsspuren bei den wirtschaftlichen Aktivitäten hinterlassen. Insgesamt wird die Wirtschaft in Deutschland laut IWH-Flash-Indikator im ersten Quartal 2022 um 0,7% zurückgehen und im zweiten Quartal 2022 um 2,0% zulegen (vgl. Abbildung 1).
Read article
Economic Sentiment: Disentangling Private Information from Public Knowledge
Katja Heinisch, Axel Lindner
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 15,
2021
Abstract
This paper addresses a general problem with the use of surveys as source of information about the state of an economy: Answers to surveys are highly dependent on information that is publicly available, while only additional information that is not already publicly known has the potential to improve a professional forecast. We propose a simple procedure to disentangle the private information of agents from knowledge that is already publicly known for surveys that ask for general as well as for private prospects. Our results reveal the potential of our proposed technique for the usage of European Commissions‘ consumer surveys for economic forecasting for Germany.
Read article
14.12.2021 • 29/2021
German economy not yet immune to COVID 19 ‒ outlook clouded again
The current pandemic wave and supply bottlenecks cause the German economy to stagnate in winter. When infection rates go down in spring, private consumption will increase significantly. In addition, supply restrictions will be gradually reduced. As a result, the economy will regain momentum. The Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) forecasts that German gross domestic product will increase by 3.5% (East Germany: 2.7%) in 2022, after 2.7% (East Germany: 2.1%) in the current year. Inflation is expected to decline only slowly.
Oliver Holtemöller
Read press release
