Government debt and forecasts thereof attracted considerable attention during the recent financial crisis. The current paper analyzes potential biases in different U.S. government agencies' one-year-ahead forecasts of U.S. gross federal debt over 1984-2012. Standard tests typically fail to...

Some recent studies have suggested constructing a Monetary Conditions Index (or MCI) to serve as an indicator of monetary policy stance. The central banks of Canada, Sweden,and Norway all construct an MCI and (to varying degrees) use it in conducting monetary policy. Empirically, an MCI is...