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
April 20, 2005 Opening Statement before the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce Opening statement David Dodge Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce Last Thursday, we released our April Monetary Policy Report. In the report, we said that the global economy has been unfolding largely as expected, and the outlook for the Canadian economy is essentially unchanged from that in January's Monetary Policy Report Update. Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Opening statements
April 20, 2005 Conference Summary: Canada in the Global Economy Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2005 Lawrence L. Schembri The Bank of Canada's 2004 research conference examined the real and financial linkages between the Canadian economy and the economies in the rest of the world. Although Canada has profited enormously from its openness to international trade in goods, services, and financial assets, many of the most significant shocks to the Canadian economy in recent years have come from abroad. For these reasons, understanding the extent and nature of the external linkages, their implications for the Canadian economy, and the process by which the Canadian economy adjusts to external shocks is of critical importance both for monetary policy and for monitoring the financial system. This article describes the purpose of the conference—to deepen economists' understanding of these important issues—and provides highlights of the papers presented in each of the five sessions, as well as summaries of the keynote lecture and the discussion of the policy panel. Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Balance of payments and components, Exchange rates, International topics
April 19, 2005 Communication: A Vital Tool in the Implementation of Monetary Policy Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2005 Paul Jenkins Remarks by Paul Jenkins, Senior Deputy Governor, Bank of Canada, to the FMAC/FMA-USA Joint Conference 2004 Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles
April 19, 2005 Opening Statement before the House of Commons Finance Committee Opening statement David Dodge House of Commons Finance Committee Last Thursday, we released our April Monetary Policy Report. In the report, we said that the global economy has been unfolding largely as expected, and the outlook for the Canadian economy is essentially unchanged from that in January's Monetary Policy Report Update. Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Opening statements
April 15, 2005 Governor Dodge Discusses How Canada is Adjusting to Global Economic Forces Media Relations New York, New York Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge said today that the Canadian economy is adjusting to powerful global forces and explained what the central bank is doing to help the adjustment process. Content Type(s): Press, Press releases
April 15, 2005 How Canada is Adjusting to Global Economic Forces Remarks David Dodge Canadian Association of New York New York, New York The Bank of Canada has been examining the issue of how the Canadian economy adjusts movements in the exchange rate for a long time. Canada's economy is very open, so we always need to understand how exchange rate movements are affecting real economic activity and, in turn, what the implications are for monetary policy. Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Remarks
April 14, 2005 Bank of Canada releases Monetary Policy Report Media Relations Ottawa, Ontario The Bank of Canada today released its April Monetary Policy Report, which discusses current economic and financial trends in the context of Canada's inflation-control strategy. Content Type(s): Press, Press releases
April 14, 2005 Release of the Monetary Policy Report Opening statement David Dodge The Bank expects Canada's economy to grow by about 2 1/2 per cent in 2005 and 3 1/4 per cent in 2006, with growth this year and next coming primarily from strength in domestic demand. To continue to support aggregate demand, we decided to leave the target for the overnight rate unchanged at 2.5 per cent on 12 April. Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Opening statements
April 14, 2005 Monetary Policy Report – April 2005 The global economy has been unfolding largely as expected, and prospects for continued robust growth are quite favourable, especially over the near term. Content Type(s): Publications, Monetary Policy Report