FAQ

Frequently asked questions about tidyMacro

Getting started

How do I install the package?

# install.packages("devtools")
devtools::install_github("muhsinciftci/tidyMacro")

The package compiles C++ at install time, so you need a working toolchain: Rtools on Windows, Xcode command line tools on macOS, g++ on Linux.

What does tidyMacro depend on?

No other econometrics package. Estimation is written from the ground up in C++ via Rcpp and RcppArmadillo.

Which R version do I need?

R >= 3.5.0

How does threading work?

Bootstrap routines are parallelised with OpenMP. Functions take an n_threads argument, where n_threads = 0 (the default) means all available cores minus one, leaving your machine responsive. Set an explicit integer to pin it.

What if my compiler has no OpenMP?

The parallel regions are guarded, and the build uses R’s standard SHLIB_OPENMP_CXXFLAGS. Without OpenMP the package still compiles and runs correctly — just single-threaded. This is the usual situation on stock macOS toolchains.

Why is it fast?

Estimation and bootstrapping live entirely in C++/RcppArmadillo rather than in R loops, and the bootstrap draws are distributed across threads. R is used only to marshal the data in and to build the plots.

How do I cite tidyMacro?

Ciftci, Muhsin (2026). tidyMacro: A Fast, Tidy Toolkit for Applied Macroeconometrics. Available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=7150339

@article{ciftci2026tidymacro,
  title   = {tidyMacro: A Fast, Tidy Toolkit for Applied Macroeconometrics},
  author  = {Ciftci, Muhsin},
  year    = {2026},
  journal = {SSRN Electronic Journal},
  url     = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=7150339}
}

I found a bug, or something is missing. Where do I go?

Open an issue at https://github.com/muhsinciftci/tidyMacro/issues. Every page on this site also has an “Report an issue” link in its right-hand margin.

What licence is it under?

MIT.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Do you use AI for package development?
    • Yes
  • Which AI platforms do you use?
    • Mostly Claude but I also use codex for cross checking
  • Do you build all functions at once?
    • No. I implement functions one by one and move sequentially.
  • How much time do you spend?
    • Much more than I expected. Despite AI, I spend a lot of time for cross checks, model outputs, design and correctness of functions.
  • Is there any case you spotted errors of AI
    • Yes. But I mostly change the design of model outputs and inputs.
  • How do I make sure that the results are reliable for my research?
    • Replications of key economics papers serve as a means to ensure the reliability of the package.

References

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