Revisiting deterministic extended-path: a simple and accurate solution method for macroeconomic models

The deterministic extended-path (EP) method for solving dynamic stochastic optimisation problems approximates conditional expectations instead of approximating a model's complex non-linear dynamics. For a benchmark real business cycle model we show that this straightforward approach provides excellent accuracy and uniform performance across the entire state space. Our implementation requires roughly four-fold more computer time than Galerkin projection, but the method has offsetting simplicity and generality.