August 23, 2004
Staff research, Publications
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August 22, 2004
Canada's Capital Markets: How Do They Measure Up?
In a recent speech, Deputy Governor Sheryl Kennedy discusses how the efficiency of Canada's capital markets compares in a global context. Taking into account the three inter-related aspects of an efficient market (allocational, operational, and informational efficiency), Kennedy reviews the recent performance of Canadian capital markets under such headings as size, completeness, and access to capital and the instruments needed to hedge, or distribute, risk (allocational efficiency). To assess operational efficiency, she considers Canadian markets' liquidity and whether their transactional costs are competitive. Finally, she reviews transparency and market integrity (and how integrity is maintained) to determine markets' informational efficiency. She also offers several suggestions as to how Canadian markets can continue to be improve and maintain their competitiveness. -
August 21, 2004
The Canadian Experience with Counterfeiting
Counterfeiting poses a significant public policy issue because of the important role that paper money plays in Canada's payments system. Yet the threat of counterfeiting in all economies has increased markedly in the past decade as a result of technological advances to photocopiers and computer printers. An appropriate public policy response is thus necessary to maintain the public's continued confidence in the national currency. To assess the threat from counterfeiting, including possible loss of confidence in the currency, estimating the stock of counterfeits circulating is necessary. In this article, Chant proposes a composite method of detecting counterfeits as an effective alternative to existing methods and offers estimates of the extent of counterfeiting Canadian currency for 2001. An Addendum to the article summarizes Chant's methods and updates the calculations to 2003. -
The New Keynesian Hybrid Phillips Curve: An Assessment of Competing Specifications for the United States
Inflation forecasting is fundamental to monetary policy. In practice, however, economists are faced with competing goals: accuracy and theoretical consistency. -
The New Basel Capital Accord and the Cyclical Behaviour of Bank Capital
The authors conduct a counterfactual simulation of the proposed rules under the new Basel Capital Accord (Basel II), including the revised treatment of expected and unexpected credit losses proposed by the Basel Committee in October 2003. -
Uninsurable Investment Risks
The authors study a general-equilibrium economy in which agents have the ability to invest in a risky technology. -
Monetary and Fiscal Policies in Canada: Some Interesting Principles for EMU?
Choosing a well-designed framework for fiscal and monetary policies is a challenge for economic authorities. -
July 22, 2004
Monetary Policy Report Update – July 2004
Since the April Monetary Policy Report, three developments have led the Bank of Canada to make small modifications to its outlook for economic growth and inflation in Canada. -
July 12, 2004
Business Outlook Survey - Summer 2004
Businesses are somewhat more optimistic about the outlook than they were in the spring, reflecting increased confidence about the robustness of the global economic recovery. -
Financial Market Imperfection, Overinvestment, and Speculative Precaution
The author uses panel data to assess the sensitivity of investment to cash flow in non-financial firms, taking into account the role their financial health plays in investment decisions.