Hamilton filter

Problems

The Hamilton filter suffers from a number of issues

  • It amplifies cycles of various frequencies unevenly
  • The extracted trend is noisy, rather than smooth

These flaws are made most clear via spectral analysis, a la @quastReliableRealTimeOutput2022 and @canovaFAQHowExtract:

Spectral analysis clarifies a number of issues

  • Within the typical business cycle frequency range (6-32 quarters), cycles of various lengths are treated very differently
  • Various high frequencies (cycles of less than 6 quarters) are allowed through the filter

References

@canovaFAQHowExtract

@quastReliableRealTimeOutput2022

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