FORECASTING US INFLATION USING DYNAMIC GENERAL-TO-SPECIFIC MODEL SELECTION

Abstract

We forecast US inflation using a standard set of macroeconomic predictors and a dynamic model selection and averaging methodology that allows the forecasting model to change over time. Pseudo out-of-sample forecasts are generated from models identified from a multipath general-to-specific algorithm that is applied dynamically using rolling regressions. Our results indicate that the inflation forecasts that we obtain employing a short rolling window substantially outperform those from a well-established univariate benchmark, and contrary to previous evidence, are considerably robust to alternative forecast periods.