Electronic Transactions as High-Frequency Indicators of Economic Activity Staff Working Paper 2007-58 John Galbraith, Greg Tkacz Since the advent of standard national accounts data over 60 years ago, economists have traditionally relied on monthly or quarterly data supplied by central statistical agencies for macroeconomic modelling and forecasting. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles JEL Code(s): E, E1, E17, E2, E27, E6, E66
Asset-Price Misalignments and Monetary Policy: How Flexible Should Inflation-Targeting Regimes Be? Staff Discussion Paper 2007-6 Jack Selody, Carolyn A. Wilkins The authors analyze the extent to which inflation-targeting frameworks should incorporate flexibility in order to respond to asset-price misalignments and other atypical events. They examine the costs and benefits of adding flexibility to the Bank's current inflation-targeting framework, and conclude that maintaining low and stable consumer price inflation is the best contribution that monetary policy […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Inflation targets, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E5, E6
Cross-Country Estimates of the Degree of Fiscal Dominance and Central Bank Independence Staff Working Paper 2007-36 Carlos De Resende This paper studies the interdependence between fiscal and monetary policies, and their joint role in the determination of the price level. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Central bank research, Fiscal policy, Inflation: costs and benefits JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E4, E42, E5, E50, E6, E63
Should Central Banks Adjust Their Target Horizons in Response to House-Price Bubbles? Staff Discussion Paper 2007-4 Meenakshi Basant Roi, Rhys R. Mendes The authors investigate the implications of house-price bubbles for the optimal inflation-target horizon using a dynamic general-equilibrium model with credit frictions, house-price bubbles, and small open-economy features. They find that, given the distribution of shocks and inflation persistence over the past 25 years, the optimal target horizon for Canada tends to be at the lower […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Central bank research, Credit and credit aggregates, Economic models, Inflation targets, Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E44, E5, E52, E58, E6, E61
Oil Price Movements and the Global Economy: A Model-Based Assessment Staff Working Paper 2007-34 Selim Elekdag, René Lalonde, Douglas Laxton, Dirk Muir, Paolo Pesenti We develop a five-region version (Canada, an oil exporter, the United States, emerging Asia and Japan plus the euro area) of the Global Economy Model (GEM) encompassing production and trade of crude oil, and use it to study the international transmission mechanism of shocks that drive oil prices. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Inflation and prices, International topics JEL Code(s): E, E6, E66, F, F3, F32, F4, F47
Computing Optimal Policy in a Timeless-Perspective: An Application to a Small-Open Economy Staff Working Paper 2007-32 Michel Juillard, Florian Pelgrin Since the contribution of Kydland and Prescott (1977), it is well known that the optimal Ramsey policy is time inconsistent. In a series of recent contributions, Woodford (2003) proposes a new methodology to circumvent this problem, namely the timeless perspective solution. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): C, C6, E, E5, E6
Optimization in a Simulation Setting: Use of Function Approximation in Debt Strategy Analysis Staff Working Paper 2007-13 David Bolder, Tiago Rubin The stochastic simulation model suggested by Bolder (2003) for the analysis of the federal government's debt-management strategy provides a wide variety of useful information. It does not, however, assist in determining an optimal debt-management strategy for the government in its current form. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Debt management, Econometric and statistical methods, Financial markets, Fiscal policy JEL Code(s): C, C0, C1, C14, C15, C5, C51, C52, C6, C61, C65, E, E6, G, G1, H, H6, H63
Time-Consistent Control in Non-Linear Models Staff Working Paper 2007-3 Steve Ambler, Florian Pelgrin We show how to use optimal control theory to derive optimal time-consistent Markov-perfect government policies in nonlinear dynamic general equilibrium models, extending the result of Cohen and Michel (1988) for models with quadratic objective functions and linear dynamics. We replace private agents' costates by flexible functions of current states in the government's maximization problem. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Fiscal policy, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): C, C6, C63, E, E6, E61, E62
The Institutional and Political Determinants of Fiscal Adjustment Staff Working Paper 2006-1 Robert Lavigne The author empirically assesses the effects of institutional and political factors on the need and willingness of governments to make large fiscal adjustments. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Development economics, Econometric and statistical methods, Fiscal policy, International topics JEL Code(s): E, E6, E62, O, O1, O17, O19
The 1975–78 Anti-Inflation Program in Retrospect Staff Working Paper 2005-43 John Sargent The author provides an overview of the 1975–78 Anti-Inflation Program (AIP), in a background document prepared for a seminar organized by the Bank of Canada to mark the AIP's 30th anniversary. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credibility, Fiscal policy, Inflation and prices, Inflation targets, Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy implementation JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E5, E52, E6, E63, E64, E65