E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics

• Volatility Risk and Economic Welfare

  Staff Working Paper 2017-20 Shaofeng Xu

  This paper examines the effects of time-varying volatility on welfare. I construct a tractable endogenous growth model with recursive preferences, stochastic volatility, and capital adjustment costs.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Economic models JEL Code(s): E, E2, E3
• May 25, 2017

  Project Jasper: Are Distributed Wholesale Payment Systems Feasible Yet?

  Financial System Review - June 2017 James Chapman, Rodney J. Garratt, Scott Hendry, Andrew McCormack, Wade McMahon

  This report describes a joint endeavour between public and private sectors to explore a wholesale payment system based on distributed ledger technology (DLT). They find that a stand-alone DLT system is unlikely to be as beneficial as a centralized payment system in terms of core operating costs; however, it could increase financial system efficiency as a result of integration with the broader financial market infrastructure.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Financial System Review articles Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech, Financial system regulation and policies, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E58, G, G2, G28
• May 11, 2017

  Unconventional Monetary Policy: The Perspective of a Small Open Economy

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2017 Jean-Sébastien Fontaine, Lena Suchanek, Jing Yang

  How do unconventional monetary policies like quantitative easing and negative interest rates affect domestic financial conditions and the broader economy in small open econo-mies, such as Canada? These policies are effective in depreciating the exchange rate in small open economies, while lower interest rates are also passed through to the economy, albeit only partially. When conventional monetary policy is close to its limits, fiscal policy may be a more important complement to monetary policy in a small economy, particularly if global demand for safe assets compresses long-term interest rates.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Interest rates, Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy implementation, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58, E6, E61, E65
• May 11, 2017

  Wholesale Funding of the Big Six Canadian Banks

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2017 Matthieu Truno, Andriy Stolyarov, Danny Auger, Michel Assaf

  The Big Six Canadian banks are a dominant component of the Canadian financial system. How they finance their business activities is fundamental to how effective they are. Retail and commercial deposits along with wholesale funding represent the two major sources of funds for Canadian banks. What wholesale funding instruments do the Big Six banks use? How do they choose between different funding sources, funding strategies and why? How have banks changed their funding mix since the 2007–09 global financial crisis?

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial markets, Financial system regulation and policies, Market structure and pricing, Wholesale funding JEL Code(s): E, E4, E44, F, F3, G, G0, G01, G1, G10, G12, G15, G2, G20, G21, G28, O, O1, O16
• May 11, 2017

  Why Is Global Business Investment So Weak? Some Insights from Advanced Economies

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2017 Robert Fay, Justin-Damien Guénette, Martin Leduc, Louis Morel

  Various drivers of business investment can be used to explain the underwhelming performance of investment in advanced economies since the global financial crisis, particularly since 2014. The slow growth in aggregate demand cannot by itself explain the full extent of the recent weakness in investment, which appears to be linked primarily to the collapse of global commodity prices and a rise in economic uncertainty. Looking ahead, business investment growth is likely to remain slower than in the pre-crisis period, largely because of structural factors such as population aging.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Domestic demand and components, Economic models, International topics, Monetary policy and uncertainty, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): C, C2, C22, D, D2, D24, D8, D80, E, E2, E22, F, F0, F01, G, G3, G31