red-tables-figures

name	red-tables-figures
description	Use when designing the exhibits of a Review of Economic Dynamics (RED) manuscript — impulse-response functions, calibration tables, moment-matching (model-vs-data) tables, policy-experiment figures, and accuracy diagnostics — so a quantitative dynamic paper communicates its mechanism and fit clearly to the SED readership.

Tables & Figures for RED (red-tables-figures)

When to trigger

• Building the exhibits that carry a quantitative dynamic paper
• Deciding how to show model-vs-data fit and the mechanism behind a result
• Making IRFs and policy experiments legible at print resolution

Exhibits that fit RED

RED papers live or die on whether the mechanism and the quantitative fit are visible. Favor:

• Impulse-response functions (IRFs) — the workhorse figure for dynamic models; plot model responses to the key shocks, overlay alternative parameterizations to isolate the mechanism, and (where relevant) overlay empirical responses.
• Calibration table — every parameter, value, source/target, and status (calibrated/estimated/assumed), so a reader can audit discipline at a glance.
• Moment-matching table — targeted and untargeted moments side by side, model vs data; untargeted fit is a credibility highlight, so give it prominence.
• Policy / counterfactual experiment figures — show the magnitude of the dynamic effect and the transition path, not just steady-state comparisons.
• Accuracy diagnostics — Euler-equation errors or convergence plots where the computation is non-trivial.

Make each exhibit self-contained: numbered, called out in order, with notes stating the model variant, shock, units, and data source. Author-year citations in notes match RED's reference system.

Execution bridge (StatsPAI / Stata MCP)

Generate exhibits from the fitted result, not by retyping numbers. Full map: execution-with-mcp. RED is quantitative macro — mostly structural/calibration, which is outside this causal-inference toolchain; apply the chain to its empirical/reduced-form papers.

• Tables: etable (multi-model) or did_summary_to_latex straight from the result_id.
• Figures: plot_from_result / enhanced_event_study_plot / event_study_table — axis units and the SE/clustering note baked in.
• Every note names the estimator + clustering and states the magnitude in interpretable units.

See a full fitted-result → exhibit chain in the JF execution walkthrough.

Checklist

• IRFs / transition paths show the mechanism, not just outcomes
• Calibration and moment tables let a reader audit discipline and fit
• Untargeted moments are reported, not hidden
• Every exhibit is self-contained, numbered, and legible at print resolution

Anti-patterns

• Steady-state-only comparisons that hide the dynamics
• Moment tables showing only targeted moments
• Figures with no notes on model variant, shock, or units

Exhibit sequence

For most RED papers, the exhibit order should mirror the argument:

1. Mechanism figure: state variables or transition paths that show the dynamic force.
2. Discipline table: parameters, calibration targets, estimation targets, and sources.
3. Fit table: targeted and untargeted moments, model vs data.
4. Counterfactual/experiment: the quantitative result or policy path.
5. Accuracy/reproducibility note: solver error, convergence, seed, or runtime when computation matters.

If the first exhibit is a static regression table, ask whether the paper is really using RED's dynamic lens or drifting toward a field journal.

Mock moment table (model vs data)

The fit table referees scan first should look like this (all numbers illustrative):

Table X: Targeted and untargeted moments
                                     Data    Model   Source
Targeted
  Wealth-to-income ratio             2.90    2.90    NIPA / Flow of Funds
  Share with negative net worth      0.135   0.132   SCF
Untargeted
  Wealth Gini                        0.78    0.74    SCF
  Top-10% wealth share               0.71    0.66    SCF
  Average quarterly MPC              0.16    0.19    literature estimates (author-year)
Notes: model moments from the stationary distribution; simulation of 100,000
households; seed recorded in the archive readme.

The Targeted/Untargeted split must be typographically explicit — a single undifferentiated column invites the circularity objection from quantitative-macro referees.

Exhibit-budget anchor

Hedged anchor (verify against recent RED issues rather than treating it as policy): mainline quantitative papers commonly carry on the order of 4–8 main-text exhibits — typically one mechanism/IRF figure, a calibration table, a fit table, and one or two counterfactual exhibits — with accuracy diagnostics and extended sensitivity in an appendix. Treat that as a budget: each additional main-text exhibit must change what the reader believes about the mechanism or the magnitude.

Figure-craft pushback

Exhibit complaint	Fix for a dynamics paper
IRFs without units or horizon labels	percent vs pp deviation, quarters vs years, stated on axes and in notes
Counterfactual shown only at the new steady state	add the transition path — adjustment dynamics are often the contribution
Mechanism overlays illegible in grayscale	vary line style, not only color; print-test the PDF
Distributional result collapsed to a mean	plot the policy function or the cross-sectional shift; heterogeneity is usually the point

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/external_tools.md — plotting and solver outputs
• red-data-analysis — the analysis behind the exhibits