Liquidity, Redistribution, and the Welfare Cost of Inflation Staff Working Paper 2007-39 Jonathan Chiu, Miguel Molico This paper studies the long run welfare costs of inflation in a micro-founded model with trading frictions and costly liquidity management. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Inflation: costs and benefits JEL Code(s): E, E4, E40, E5, E50
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 Research 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 Research 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
Implications of New Accounting Standards for the Bank of Canada's Balance Sheet Staff Discussion Paper 2007-2 Mark Zelmer, Grahame Johnson The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) has implemented new accounting standards for the valuation and reporting of financial instruments. They are effective for the Bank of Canada in 2007. As a result of these changes, the Bank has begun valuing its holdings of Government of Canada treasury bills on a fair value basis and […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Financial institutions, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E5, E58, M, M4
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 Research Topic(s): Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): C, C6, E, E5, E6
Term Structure Transmission of Monetary Policy Staff Working Paper 2007-30 Sharon Kozicki, P. A. Tinsley Under bond-rate transmission of monetary policy, the authors show that a generalized Taylor Principle applies, in which the average anticipated path of policy responses to inflation is subject to a lower bound of unity. This result helps explain how bond rates may exhibit stable responses to inflation, even in periods of passive policy. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Interest rates, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): E, E3, E5, N, N1
Modelling Payments Systems: A Review of the Literature Staff Working Paper 2007-28 Jonathan Chiu, Alexandra Lai Payments systems play a fundamental role in an economy by providing the mechanisms through which payments arising from transactions can be settled. The existing literature on the economics of payments systems is large but loosely organized, in that each model uses a distinct set-up and sometimes a distinct equilibrium concept. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E58, G, G2, G21
Optimal Monetary Policy and Price Stability Over the Long-Run Staff Working Paper 2007-26 Oleksiy Kryvtsov, Malik Shukayev, Alexander Ueberfeldt This paper examines the role of monetary policy in an environment with aggregate risk and incomplete markets. In a two-period overlapping-generations model with aggregate uncertainty and nominal bonds, optimal monetary policy attains the ex-ante Pareto optimal allocation. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E5
The Zero Bound on Nominal Interest Rates: Implications for the Optimal Monetary Policy in Canada Staff Discussion Paper 2007-1 Claude Lavoie, Hope Pioro The authors assess the performance of the Canadian economy under a variety of interest rate rules when the zero bound on nominal interest rates can bind. Their assessment is based on numerical simulations of a dynamic stochastic general-equilibrium model in a stochastic environment. Consistent with the literature, the authors find that the probability and consequences […] Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Inflation: costs and benefits, Interest rates, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E4, E43, E47, E5, E52
Perhaps the FOMC Did What It Said It Did: An Alternative Interpretation of the Great Inflation Staff Working Paper 2007-19 Sharon Kozicki, P. A. Tinsley This paper uses real-time briefing forecasts prepared for the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to provide estimates of historical changes in the design of U.S. monetary policy and in the implied central-bank target for inflation. Empirical results support a description of policy with an effective inflation target of roughly 7 percent in the 1970s. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Monetary aggregates, Monetary policy implementation JEL Code(s): E, E3, E5, N, N1