Lawrence L. Schembri - Latest

• November 17, 2011

  The International Monetary System: An Assessment and Avenue for Reform

  Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2011 Lawrence L. Schembri, Eric Santor

  The current international monetary system is in need of reform. This article first provides an assessment of the existing system, highlighting both its strengths and weaknesses. It notes that the system has not facilitated the symmetric and timely adjustment in the real exchange rate necessary to accommodate the integration of China and other emerging-market economies into the global economy. This lack of adjustment contributed to the global financial crisis and recession and, because it is forestalling the required rotation of global demand, is hindering the global recovery. The article then discusses reform of the system that would see all systemically important countries and currency areas adopt market-based and convertible floating exchange rates supported by appropriate monetary, fiscal and financial sector policy frameworks. It also examines the roles of the G-20 countries and major international financial institutions in promoting and facilitating the system’s transition.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Exchange rate regimes, International topics
• June 22, 2011

  Emerging from the Shadows: Market-Based Financing in Canada

  Financial System Review - June 2011 James Chapman, Lawrence L. Schembri, Stéphane Lavoie

  Content Type(s): Publications, Financial System Review articles

• External Stability, Real Exchange Rate Adjustment and the Exchange Rate Regime in Emerging-Market Economies

  Staff Discussion Paper 2011-5 Olivier Gervais, Lawrence L. Schembri, Lena Suchanek

  In emerging-market economies, real exchange rate adjustment is critical for maintaining a sustainable current account position and thereby for helping to reduce macroeconomic and financial instability.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Development economics, Exchange rate regimes, International topics JEL Code(s): F, F3, F31, F32, F4, F41

• Productivity, the Terms of Trade, and the Real Exchange Rate: The Balassa-Samuelson Hypothesis Revisited

  Staff Working Paper 2009-22 Ehsan U. Choudhri, Lawrence L. Schembri

  The paper examines how the Balassa-Samuelson hypothesis is affected by a modern variation of the standard model that allows product differentiation (within the traded and nontraded goods sectors) with the number of firms determined exogenously or endogenously.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Exchange rates, Productivity JEL Code(s): F, F3, F31, F4, F41

• Strengthening IMF Surveillance: An Assessment of Recent Reforms

  Staff Discussion Paper 2009-10 Robert Lavigne, Lawrence L. Schembri

  The authors assess the potential impact of recently approved reforms to International Monetary Fund (IMF) surveillance; namely, the "2007 Decision on Bilateral Surveillance Over Members' Policies" and the "Statement of Surveillance Priorities" (SSP). They conclude that these complementary reforms have the potential to create a comprehensive and coherent framework for IMF surveillance. If implemented properly, […]

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): International topics JEL Code(s): F, F3, F33

• Canada and the IMF: Trailblazer or Prodigal Son?

  Staff Discussion Paper 2009-1 Michael Bordo, Lawrence L. Schembri, Tamara Gomes

  Canada played an important role in the postwar establishment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), yet it was also the first major member to challenge the orthodoxy of the BrettonWoods par value system by abandoning it in 1950 in favour of a floating, market-determined exchange rate.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Exchange rate regimes, Exchange rates, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58, F, F4, F41, F5, F55, N, N7, N72
• March 18, 2008

  Canada's Experience with a Flexible Exchange Rate in the 1950s: Valuable Lessons Learned

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2008 Lawrence L. Schembri

  Schembri studies Canada's post-World War II experience in introducing a floating exchange rate, including its effects on the Canadian economy and its influence on the development of macroeconomic theory. In particular, Canada's flexible exchange rate and high degree of capital mobility with the United States provided an unprecedented experiment for macroeconomic policy. The successes and difficulties encountered by Canadian authorities in managing monetary and fiscal policy under this regime drew the interest of researchers at the International Monetary Fund and elsewhere and had a significant impact on the development of the Mundell-Fleming model, the path-breaking innovation in modern open-economy macroeconomics.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Central bank research, Exchange rate regimes, Monetary policy framework

• Canada's Pioneering Experience with a Flexible Exchange Rate in the 1950s: (Hard) Lessons Learned for Monetary Policy in a Small Open Economy

  Staff Working Paper 2007-45 Michael Bordo, Ali Dib, Lawrence L. Schembri

  This paper revisits Canada's pioneering experience with floating exchange rate over the period 1950–1962. It examines whether the floating rate was the best option for Canada in the 1950s by developing and estimating a New Keynesian small open economy model of the Canadian economy.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Exchange rates JEL Code(s): E, E3, E32, E37, F, F3, F31, F32, N, N1

• Multilateral Adjustment and Exchange Rate Dynamics: The Case of Three Commodity Currencies

  Staff Working Paper 2007-41 Jeannine Bailliu, Ali Dib, Takashi Kano, Lawrence L. Schembri

  In this paper, we empirically investigate whether multilateral adjustment to large U.S. external imbalances can help explain movements in the bilateral exchange rates of three commodity currencies – the Australian, Canadian and New Zealand (ACNZ) dollars.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Exchange rates JEL Code(s): C, C1, C11, C2, C22, F, F3, F31, F32
• April 22, 2005

  Borders, Common Currencies, Trade, and Welfare: What Can We Learn from the Evidence?

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2005 John F. Helliwell, Lawrence L. Schembri

  Recent evidence indicates that the intensity of economic exchange within and across borders is significantly different: linkages are much tighter within, than among, nation-states. These findings, however, do not necessarily imply that borders and separate national currencies represent significant barriers to trade that should be removed, since the evidence is also consistent with the alternative hypothesis, that domestic exchange is more efficient because domestic producers are better able to satisfy the requirements of local consumers, owing to common tastes and institutions and the existence of local information and social networks. Focusing primarily on trade linkages within and between Canada and the United States, the authors review the evidence on the extent to which national borders lessen the intensity of international economic linkages, primarily trade in goods and services, and the effects on domestic welfare. They also examine the evidence on the impact of common currencies on trade and welfare. They determine that, since the empirical models employed to date in this research cannot distinguish between alternative explanations of the evidence, it is not yet possible to draw firm conclusions for policy-making.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Exchange rate regimes, International topics, Monetary policy framework