E6 - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook

• November 14, 2013

  Assessing Financial System Vulnerabilities: An Early Warning Approach

  Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2013 Gurnain Pasricha, Tom Roberts, Ian Christensen, Brad Howell

  This article focuses on a quantitative method to identify financial system vulnerabilities, specifically, an imbalance indicator model (IIM) and its application to Canada. An IIM identifies potential vulnerabilities in a financial system by comparing current economic and financial data with data from periods leading up to past episodes of financial stress. It complements other sources of information - including market intelligence and regular monitoring of the economy - that policy-makers use to assess vulnerabilities.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Econometric and statistical methods, Financial stability, Monetary and financial indicators JEL Code(s): E, E6, E66, G, G0, G01

• Housing and Tax Policy

  Staff Working Paper 2013-33 Sami Alpanda, Sarah Zubairy

  In this paper, we investigate the effects of housing-related tax policy measures on macroeconomic aggregates using a dynamic general-equilibrium model.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Fiscal policy, Housing JEL Code(s): E, E6, E62, H, H2, H24, R, R3, R38

• Analyzing Fiscal Sustainability

  Staff Working Paper 2013-27 Huixin Bi, Eric M. Leeper

  The authors study the implications of fiscal policy behaviour for sovereign risk in a framework that determines a country’s fiscal limit, the point at which, for economic or political reasons, taxes and spending can no longer adjust to stabilize debt.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Fiscal policy JEL Code(s): E, E6, E62, E65, H, H6, H63

• Uncertain Fiscal Consolidations

  Staff Working Paper 2013-26 Huixin Bi, Eric M. Leeper, Campbell Leith

  The paper explores the macroeconomic consequences of fiscal consolidations whose timing and composition - either tax- or spending-based - are uncertain.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Economic models, Fiscal policy, Monetary policy and uncertainty JEL Code(s): E, E6, E62, E63, H, H3, H30, H6, H60
• May 16, 2013

  Unconventional Monetary Policies: Evolving Practices, Their Effects and Potential Costs

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2013 Lena Suchanek, Eric Santor

  Following the recent financial crisis, major central banks have introduced several types of unconventional monetary policy measures, including liquidity and credit facilities, asset purchases and forward guidance. To date, these measures appear to have been successful. They restored market functioning, facilitated the transmission of monetary policy and supported economic activity. They have potential costs, however, including challenges related to the greatly expanded balance sheets of central banks and the eventual exit from these measures, as well as the vulnerabilities that can arise from prolonged monetary accommodation.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Central bank research, Financial markets, International topics, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58, E6, E65
• February 21, 2013

  The G-20 Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth: Macroeconomic Coordination Since the Crisis

  Bank of Canada Review - Winter 2012-2013 Robert Lavigne, Subrata Sarker

  Since 2009, the G-20 Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth has provided a mechanism for international macroeconomic policy coordination. The Framework has had some successes, including agreement on objectives for fiscal consolidation. However, post-crisis global growth has been neither strong nor balanced. Progress has also been slow in developing credible fiscal consolidation plans in some advanced countries and in increasing exchange rate flexibility in certain emerging economies. A stronger peer review process and enhanced analysis of international spillovers would increase the Framework’s influence on member policies.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Exchange rate regimes, Fiscal policy, International topics, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): E, E6, E61, F, F5, F53, F55
• February 21, 2013

  The U.S. Recovery from the Great Recession: A Story of Debt and Deleveraging

  Bank of Canada Review - Winter 2012-2013 Brady Lavender, Nicolas Parent

  The U.S. recovery from the Great Recession has been slow relative to other postwar-era recoveries in the United States. Encouraged by loose lending standards in the pre-crisis period, U.S. households took on unsustainable amounts of debt, making them vulnerable to adverse shocks. Subsequently, a considerable drop in asset prices forced households to repair their balance sheets. While there has been progress in household deleveraging, the government sector now needs to delever, which will restrain growth over the next few years.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, International topics, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): E, E2, E21, E6, E60

• Financial Development and the Volatility of Income

  Staff Working Paper 2013-4 Tiago Pinheiro, Francisco Rivadeneyra, Marc Teignier

  This paper presents a general equilibrium model with endogenous collateral constraints to study the relationship between financial development and business cycle fluctuations in a cross-section of economies with different sizes of their financial sector.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Credit and credit aggregates, Financial stability JEL Code(s): E, E3, E32, E6, E60

• Real-financial Linkages through Loan Default and Bank Capital

  Staff Working Paper 2013-3 Tamon Takamura

  Many studies in macroeconomics argue that financial frictions do not amplify the impacts of real shocks. This finding is based on models without endogenous default on loans and bank capital. Using a model featuring endogenous interactions between firm default and bank capital, this paper revisits the propagation mechanisms of real and financial shocks.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies, Interest rates JEL Code(s): E, E3, E32, E4, E44, E6, E69