Posts
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A Framework to Assess Vulnerabilities Arising from Household Indebtedness Using Microdata
Rising levels of household indebtedness have created concerns about the vulnerabilities of households to adverse economic shocks and the impact on financial stability. To assess these risks, the author presents a formal stress-testing framework that uses microdata to simulate how various economic shocks affect the distribution of the debt-service ratio (DSR) for the household sector. -
Growth in Emerging Market Economies and the Commodity Boom of 2003–2008: Evidence from Growth Forecast Revisions
Demand for industrial raw materials from emerging economies, particularly emerging Asia, is widely believed to have fueled the surge in oil and industrial commodity prices during 2002-2008. The paper first presents a simple storage model in which commodity prices respond to market participant’s changing expectations of the future macroeconomic environment. -
Short-Term Forecasting of the Japanese Economy Using Factor Models
While the usefulness of factor models has been acknowledged over recent years, little attention has been devoted to the forecasting power of these models for the Japanese economy. In this paper, we aim at assessing the relative performance of factor models over different samples, including the recent financial crisis. -
Macroprudential Rules and Monetary Policy when Financial Frictions Matter
This paper examines the interaction between monetary policy and macroprudential policy and whether policy makers should respond to financial imbalances. To address this issue, we build a dynamic general equilibrium model that features financial market frictions and financial shocks as well as standard macroeconomic shocks. -
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February 24, 2012
A Monetary Policy Framework for All Seasons
Governor Mark Carney reviews the advantages of Canada’s flexible inflation-targeting regime. -
February 24, 2012
Flexible Inflation Targeting Appropriate Framework for All Seasons, Says Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney
In a speech today to the U.S. Monetary Policy Forum, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney reviewed the advantages of Canada’s flexible inflation-targeting regime. Citing a “complex and continuously evolving world that no one can predict with certainty,” Governor Carney said that flexible inflation targeting “provides a robust framework for all seasons.” A flexible inflation-targeting […] -
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February 23, 2012
Bank of Canada Review - Winter 2011-2012
This special issue, “Household Finances and Financial Stability,” examines recent Bank of Canada research into two interrelated facts: the steady increase in Canadian household indebtedness in recent decades, and the upward trend in real house prices in Canada since 2000. Rising house prices could lead to the accumulation of debt, and abrupt movements in either factor can influence the financial health of households, which are a central part of Canada’s economy.