ABSTRACT
Chapters Two to Four discussed how economic models and forecasts are made. The analysis now turns to how they are used in the hands of professional economic forecasters charged with advising the government. This and the succeeding two chapters examine the forecasts produced by the Panel of Independent Forecasters, the ‘Seven Wise Men’, during 1993, and show how the uncertainty, judgements and econometrics described in the preceding chapters affect policy making. They highlight both the problems that arise when economists are asked to give policy advice and the ways in which the Panel sought to resolve them.
