TORONTO, - Predicting recessions in real-time could be made possible by mining vast new sources of electronic data, according to a report released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. In "Predicting Recessions in Real-Time: Mining Google Trends and Electronic Payments Data for Clues," author Greg Tkacz, pronounced "katch", considers whether Google searches and the growth of electronic payments variables, such as debit and credit card transactions, would have predicted the 2008 - 2009 recession.
