We study the properties of the IMF-WEO estimates of real-time output gaps for countries in the euro area as well as the determinants of their revisions over 1994-2017. The analysis shows that staff typically saw economies as operating below their potential. In real time, output gaps tend to have...

Given that well-being is a concave function of income, inequality is inefficient from a utilitarian perspective. This paper proposes a way to express the utilitarian benefit from redistributive reforms in terms of out- put, i.e. as a share of GDP. Three applications are presented: First, in nine...