International topics

• November 17, 2016

  Commodity Price Supercycles: What Are They and What Lies Ahead?

  Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2016 Bahattin Buyuksahin, Kun Mo, Konrad Zmitrowicz

  Because commodity prices help determine Canada’s terms of trade, employment, income and, ultimately, inflation, it is important to understand what causes them to fluctuate. Since the early 1900s, there have been four commodity price supercycles—which we define as extended periods of boom and bust that can take decades to complete. Now in its downswing phase, the current supercycle started after growth in China and other emerging-market economies in the mid-1990s resulted in an unexpected demand shock. The extent of this downswing depends on numerous factors that are presently uncertain.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, International topics JEL Code(s): C, C1, Q, Q1, Q4, Q41
• November 8, 2016

  Wood, Wheat, Wheels and the Web: Historical Pivots and Future Prospects for Canadian Exports

  Remarks Lawrence L. Schembri Atlantic Institute for Market Studies Halifax, Nova Scotia

  Deputy Governor Lawrence Schembri discusses the historical evolution and future prospects for Canadian exports.

  Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Remarks Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Development economics, Exchange rates, Firm dynamics, International topics, Trade integration

• Business Cycles in Small, Open Economies: Evidence from Panel Data Between 1900 and 2013

  Staff Working Paper 2016-48 Thuy Lan Nguyen, Wataru Miyamoto

  Using a novel data set for 17 countries dating from 1900 to 2013, we characterize business cycles in both small developed and developing countries in a model with financial frictions and a common shock structure. We estimate the model jointly for these 17 countries using Bayesian methods.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Economic models, International topics JEL Code(s): E, E1, E13, E3, E32, F, F4, F41, F44

• The Global Benefits of Low Oil Prices: More Than Meets the Eye

  Staff Analytical Note 2016-13 Robert Fay, Justin-Damien Guénette, Louis Morel

  Between mid-2014 and early 2016, oil prices fell by roughly 65 per cent. This note documents the channels through which this oil price decline is expected to affect the global economy. One important and immediate channel is through higher expenditures, especially in net oil-importing countries.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, International topics, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): E, E3, E32, E37, F, F0, F01, Q, Q4, Q43
• September 20, 2016

  Living with Lower for Longer

  Remarks Stephen S. Poloz Association des économistes québécois, the Cercle finance du Québec and CFA Québec Québec, Québec

  Governor Stephen S. Poloz talks about the adjustments that savers and companies need to make in response to low interest rates, and economic policies that can help.

  Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Remarks Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Interest rates, International topics, Monetary policy, Potential output, Trade integration

• Implementing Cross-Border Interbank Lending in BoC-GEM-FIN

  Staff Discussion Paper 2016-19 Malik Shukayev, Argyn Toktamyssov

  BIS interbank lending data show that the Great Recession generated large and persistent changes in the international interbank lending positions of various countries. The main objective of this study is to understand the role of changes in international interbank credit flows in transmitting shocks across borders.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Economic models, International topics JEL Code(s): E, E2, E27, E3, E37, F, F4, F47
• September 14, 2016

  (S)low for Long and Financial Stability

  Remarks Carolyn A. Wilkins Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum City Lecture London, United Kingdom

  Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins discusses the financial stability risks associated with slow growth and low interest rates, and explores strategies to mitigate them.

  Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Remarks Topic(s): Financial markets, Financial stability, Interest rates, International topics, Monetary policy implementation, Potential output

• Low for Longer? Why the Global Oil Market in 2014 Is Not Like 1986

  Staff Analytical Note 2016-11 Bahattin Buyuksahin, Reinhard Ellwanger, Kun Mo, Konrad Zmitrowicz

  In the second half of 2014, oil prices experienced a sharp decline, falling more than 50 per cent between June 2014 and January 2015. A cursory glance at this oil price crash suggests similarities to developments in 1986, when the price of oil declined by more than 50 per cent, initiating an episode of relatively low oil prices that lasted for more than a decade.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): International topics, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): E, E3, Q, Q4, Q41, Q43

• The Case of Serial Disappointment

  Staff Analytical Note 2016-10 Justin-Damien Guénette, Nicholas Labelle, Martin Leduc, Lori Rennison

  Similar to those of other forecasters, the Bank of Canada’s forecasts of global GDP growth have shown persistent negative errors over the past five years. This is in contrast to the pre-crisis period, when errors were consistently positive as global GDP surprised to the upside. All major regions have contributed to the forecast errors observed since 2011, although the United States has been the most persistent source of notable errors.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Domestic demand and components, Economic models, International topics, Monetary policy and uncertainty, Potential output JEL Code(s): E, E2, E27, E6, E66, F, F0, F01

• The US Labour Market: How Much Slack Remains?

  Staff Analytical Note 2016-9 Robert Fay, James Ketcheson

  Despite the US unemployment rate being close to estimates of the non-accelerating-inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU), measures of underemployment remain elevated, which could be an indication of remaining labour market slack. The shares of involuntary part-time workers and long-term unemployment are high relative to the current stage of the business cycle, suggesting available labour inputs are being underutilized.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): International topics, Labour markets, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, J, J2, J21, J23