Recent research on data uncertainty has also strengthened the case for a cautious, gradual approach to monetary policy as advocated by William Brainard as early as 1967. In particular, this research has taught us that monetary policy makers should not react strongly to first releases of data which could easily be revised.
They should rather make a broadly-based estimate of such variables, taking into account information from other, less revision-prone sources as well as the past history of revisions to the variable in question. 3  See Sims, C. A.: The Pitfalls of a Minimax Approach to Model Uncertainty, American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, May 2001.