The potential benefits of small surveys of the economy are well known -- surveys can supply measures of economic activity quickly and at a relatively low cost. But potential drawbacks are also recognized, namely that small samples may produce predominantly noise and, because of the types of data...

Recent empirical analysis has challenged the common belief that prices are procyclical. Here the analysis is augmented with data on average movements by phase of business cycles. While the data can be interpreted to be consistent with countercyclical prices, the data are also consistent with the...

The idea of rational expectations has revolutionized macroeconomics. Several authors believe that the idea can be easily tested by a simple econometric procedure. This paper, however, presents several reasons for questioning the relevance of such tests