Monetary Policy & Banking

Central Bank Forward Guidance: Handle With Care

— Sep 5, 2024

Central Bank Forward Guidance: Handle With Care is a new study that assesses the increased use and effectiveness of forward guidance by central banks—that is, providing information to the public about the projected path of their policy interest rate to shape expectations—over the last 15 to 20 years spanning the period of the Global Financial Crisis and Great Recession to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The Next Generation: Innovating to Improve Indigenous Access to Finance in Canada

— Dec 5, 2023

The Next Generation: Innovating to Improve Indigenous Access to Finance in Canada is a new study that finds a well-functioning Indigenous financial system is essential to promoting investment and economic development and raising living standards in Indigenous communities.

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Let the Sun Shine In! Policy Transparency Improves Economic Outcomes: The Experience of Monetary Policy with Lessons for Fiscal Policy

— Aug 18, 2023

Let The Sun Shine In: Policy Transparency Improves Economic Outcomes is a new study analyzing the increased transparency at central banks and the enhanced effectiveness of monetary policy over the past half-century, and highlights useful lessons for fiscal policymakers regarding government spending and public debt.

Central Bank Forays Into Unconventional Monetary Policies: Explanation, Assessment, and Implications

— Apr 25, 2023

Central Bank Forays into Unconventional Monetary Policies: Explanation, Assessment, and Implications is a new essay that documents the era of unconventional monetary policies—including Quantitative Easing and Forward Guidance—at both the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada, and assesses the effectiveness of these policies with respect to their contribution to macroeconomic stability.

Canada’s Fiscal Policy Has Undermined Efforts to Tackle Inflation

— Apr 6, 2023

Canada’s Fiscal Policy Has Undermined Efforts to Tackle Inflation finds that the federal government’s decision to increase already high levels of spending and continued budget deficits will hinder the Bank of Canada’s efforts to tame inflation.

Recent Monetary Policy & Banking Commentaries and Blog Posts

Central bank ‘forward guidance’—a valuable tool when used wisely

Lawrence Schembri, Steven Globerman

The Bank of Canada recently lowered its policy rate, making it three cuts in a row.

Canadians weary after years of brutal inflation

Jock Finlayson

Appeared in the Toronto Sun, August 28, 2024

The labour market has also softened, with job growth slowing and the unemployment rate rising.

Federal government’s capital gains tax hike is worse than you think

Jake Fuss, Grady Munro

Inflationary gains represent a significant share of the capital gains Canadians are currently realizing.

Bank of Canada missteps helped fuel today's inflation

Herbert Grubel, John Greenwood

In recent decades, central banks have fought inflation using interest rates instead of monetary growth.