ECON 4370 Macroeconomic Forecasting
Civilizations have been striving to make better, stronger, more accurate forecasts for millennia. From the days of the ancient Greeks and the Oracle at Delphi to the billions of dollars firms are investing in developing reliable forecasts today, the ability to make predictions about the future has been a key goal of civilization since its beginning. This course is focused on the forecasting and time series analysis of key macroeconomic variables utilized in business, finance, and economics. Select topics include smoothing techniques, time series decomposition methods, regression-based forecasting, ARMA modeling, VAR modeling, cointegration, and structural-change tests. The application of this highly valuable toolkit will allow students to develop statistically sound forecasts for a wide range of important macroeconomic variables.