Computers Outperform Humans for Accuracy on US GDP Forecasts
Need to gain a sense of where US economic growth is now and where it is likely to be in the future?
It might be better to look at calls from largely automated computer models rather than economists, judging by estimates of second-quarter gross domestic product ahead of the actual results released Thursday.
The US economy contracted for a second straight quarter, with GDP falling at a 0.9% annualized rate from the first three months of the year, the Commerce Department's preliminary estimate showed. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey was for expansion of 0.4%, and of the 74 projections by economists, 23 were for a decline.
Forecasts in so-called “nowcast” models, however, were closer to the outcome. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's GDPNow index, for example, saw a 1.2% decline.
Another similar computer model scored a direct hit: The estimate from S&P Global Market Intelligence, initially conceived by Monetary Policy Analytics Inc. -- co-founded by former Fed Governor Larry Meyer -- predicted a 0.9% second-quarter contraction. Its clients include governments, banks and the Fed itself, which uses the data to glean insight on where the economy is going.
The latest GDP report was closely watched, given that two consecutive quarters of shrinkage is one rule of thumb that many use to gauge whether an economy is in a recession. The official determination of ends and beginnings of business cycles is made by a group of academics at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Nowcast gauges have gained bigger followings as their accuracy improves, and the estimates they produce hew more closely to outcomes as they accumulate data. GDPNow, for instance, had forecast a 1.8% decline earlier in the week, but adjusted
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