E5 - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit

• On the Nexus of Monetary Policy and Financial Stability: Effectiveness of Macroprudential Tools in Building Resilience and Mitigating Financial Imbalances

  Staff Discussion Paper 2016-11 H. Evren Damar, Miguel Molico

  This paper reviews the Canadian and international evidence of the effectiveness of macroprudential policy measures in building resilience and mitigating financial imbalances. The analysis concludes that these measures have broadly achieved their goal of increasing the overall resilience of the financial system to the buildup of imbalances and increasing the financial system’s ability to withstand adverse shocks.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies JEL Code(s): E, E5, E51, E58, G, G1, G18, G2, G28
• May 16, 2016

  Estimating Canada’s Effective Lower Bound

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2016 Jonathan Witmer, Jing Yang

  Recently, the Bank of Canada has estimated the effective lower bound (ELB) on its policy interest rate to be about -50 basis points. This article outlines the analysis that underpins that estimate by quantifying the costs of storing and using cash in Canada. It also explores how some international markets have adapted to negative interest rates, issues surrounding their implementation, as well as their transmission to other interest rates in the economy. Finally, it discusses theoretical ideas on how the ELB could be reduced further.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy implementation, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): D, D5, D53, E, E4, E43, E5, E52, E58
• May 16, 2016

  The Micro and Macro of Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2016 Robert Amano, Dany Brouillette, Stefano Gnocchi, Natalia Kyui

  The article examines the extent of downward nominal wage rigidity in Canada and its implications for monetary policy. The authors ask whether its existence is a sufficient argument for a higher inflation target if concerns about the effective lower bound are adequately addressed.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Inflation targets, Labour markets, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E3, E4, E5, J, J2, J23, J3, J30
• May 16, 2016

  A New Era of Central Banking: Unconventional Monetary Policies

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2016 Eric Santor, Lena Suchanek

  Central banks can implement unconventional monetary policy measures to provide additional easing when policy interest rates come close to their lower limit. To date, the international experience with tools such as quantitative easing and negative interest rates has been largely positive. Central banks may also use several such measures simultaneously, with often mutually reinforcing effects. Yet, unconventional tools are also subject to potential limits, and the costs associated with these measures could rise with extensive and prolonged use.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Interest rates, International topics, Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58, E6, E61, E65
• May 16, 2016

  Monetary Policy Frameworks: Recent International Developments

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2016 Robert Fay, Kristina Hess

  Inflation-targeting frameworks have remained relatively stable over the past few years despite significant challenges, including prolonged low inflation, a large negative commodity price shock and rising financial stability concerns in some economies. The tools used by central banks have, however, evolved substantially. This article provides a survey of the developments in the inflation-targeting frameworks of 10 central banks in advanced economies that correspond to the three research areas of the Bank of Canada’s 2016 renewal: the level of the inflation target, the measurement of core inflation and financial stability considerations in the formulation of monetary policy.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Inflation targets, International topics, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58

• Should Monetary Policy Lean Against Housing Market Booms?

  Staff Working Paper 2016-19 Sami Alpanda, Alexander Ueberfeldt

  Should monetary policy lean against housing market booms? We approach this question using a small-scale, regime-switching New Keynesian model, where housing market crashes arrive with a logit probability that depends on the level of household debt.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Financial stability, Housing, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E4, E44, E5, E52, G, G0, G01

• A Bitcoin Standard: Lessons from the Gold Standard

  Staff Working Paper 2016-14 Warren E. Weber

  This paper imagines a world in which countries are on the Bitcoin standard, a monetary system in which all media of exchange are Bitcoin or are backed by it. The paper explores the similarities and differences between the Bitcoin standard and the gold standard and describes the media of exchange that would exist under the Bitcoin standard.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech, Exchange rates, Financial services, Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): E, E4, E41, E42, E5, E58

• Wait a Minute: The Efficacy of Discounting versus Non-Pecuniary Payment Steering

  Staff Working Paper 2016-8 Angelika Welte

  Merchants who accept credit cards face payment processing fees. In most countries, the no-surcharge rule prohibits them from using surcharges to pass these fees on to customers.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Market structure and pricing, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): D, D1, D12, E, E5, E58, G, G2, G28

• Understanding Firms’ Inflation Expectations Using the Bank of Canada’s Business Outlook Survey

  Staff Working Paper 2016-7 Simon Richards, Matthieu Verstraete

  Inflation expectations are a key determinant of actual and future inflation and thus matter for the conduct of monetary policy. We study how firms form their inflation expectations using quarterly firm-level data from the Bank of Canada’s Business Outlook Survey, spanning the 2001 to 2015 period.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Central bank research, Credibility, Econometric and statistical methods, Firm dynamics, Inflation and prices, Inflation targets, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): C, C1, C2, C25, D, D2, D21, D8, D84, E, E3, E31, E5, E52, E58

• Monetary Commitment and the Level of Public Debt

  Staff Working Paper 2016-3 Stefano Gnocchi, Luisa Lambertini

  We analyze the interaction between committed monetary policy and discretionary fiscal policy in a model with public debt, endogenous government expenditures, distortive taxation and nominal rigidities.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credibility, Fiscal policy, Inflation targets, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, E3, E32, E5, E52