Matlab will always have its proponents, that will use it no matter what, but if Julia keeps encroaching on this territory, I'm not sure where that leaves Ocatve.
To the model discussed in this paper, check out this series of blog posts for more information:
http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2014/09/forecas...
Essentially the model is a work in progress that is continually updated each quarter. It attempts to model at a macro economic level, the interactions between Banks, consumers, Companies, Governments and households.
Once the model has solved for the general equilibrium of how those 5 agencies interact the model can then be used to "shock" a particular factor, such as interest rates, to determine how this might affect the interaction between these agents.
Its a fairly well respected model, and the fact that the US is one of the few countries to release such a large amount of financial data is one reason why the US is still a leader in economic theory.