Maximising, Satisficing, Weights and the Evaluation of Macroeconomic Comparisons

The success or failure of macroeconomic policy over time and in comparison to other countries is an important item in political discussions. The present paper discusses the relative advantages and disadvantages of different forms of indices which aim at an aggregated picture for macroeconomic evaluations. Maximising, satisficing, and weights in multi-item indices are discussed on a principal level. In the final section a simple numerical example comparing different countries serves as an illustration of some of the main aspects. It is shown that alternative forms can yield important differences in ranking and offer alternative insights.