The Bureau for Economic Research's inflation expectations surveys: Know your data

Inflation expectations are today keenly monitored by both the private sector and policy makers. Expectations matter, but whose expectations matter and how should this unobservable be measured? Answering these questions involves a number of choices that should be transparent and explicit. In this research note, we focus on these choices with respect to the South African inflation expectations data collected by the Bureau for Economic Research. Being willing to detail the strengths and weaknesses of a particular approach is valuable as it will enable us to choose the appropriate proxy for each application and to interpret the results with insight.

C83, E43, E52, E58, E71

Inflation expectations survey, Bureau for Economic Research, inflation targeting, monetary policy, survey methodology