Bank of Canada Review - Summer 1995

BoC Review - Summer 1995/Revue BdC - Été 1995

Cover page

France: 1,000 francs, 1944

The 1,000 franc note is part of the National Currency Collection, Bank of Canada.

Photography by James Zagon.

August 10, 1995

Aspects of economic restructuring in Canada, 1989-1994

The way in which Canadian firms produce goods and services has changed dramatically during the 1990s. A major feature of this restructuring has been a shift towards greater use of capital goods, particularly computer-based technology, relative to labour in production processes. The author examines this phenomenon from a macroeconomic perspective, identifying the principal factors behind the trends in investment and employment since the late 1980s. The analysis focusses on the relative costs of capital and labour over the period and on their implications for output and employment.
August 9, 1995

Uncertainty and the transmission of monetary policy in Canada (HERMES-Glendon Lecture)

Gordon Thiessen, Governor of the Bank of Canada, delivered the HERMES-Glendon Lecture at York University, Toronto, in March 1995. The speech focussed on the interrelationships of uncertainty and the transmission of monetary policy to the economy. It looked at how the various types of uncertainty influence the behaviour of economic actors, and at how uncertainty affects the transmission of monetary policy through the economy. The first part of the lecture outlines the Bank of Canada's view of the transmission mechanism, with considerable attention paid to the role of uncertainty. In the second part, the various ways in which the Bank has tried to reduce uncertainty are discussed. The various kinds of uncertainty that impinge on the economy and on the policy process are addressed.