October 5, 2005
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85
result(s)
November 24, 2004
Asset Prices and Monetary Policy: A Canadian Perspective on the Issues
The issue addressed in this article is the extent to which monetary policy in Canada should respond to asset-price bubbles. The article concludes that maintaining low and stable consumer price inflation is the best contribution that monetary policy can make to promoting economic and financial stability, even when the economy experiences asset-price bubbles. In extreme circumstances—when an asset-price bubble is well identified and likely to have significant costs to the economy when it bursts—monetary policy might better maintain low and stable consumer price inflation by leaning against a particular bubble even though it may mean that inflation deviates temporarily from its target. Such a strategy might reduce the risk that a crash in asset prices could lead to a recession and to inflation markedly below target in the longer run. The circumstances where this strategy is possible will be rare because economists are far from being able to determine consistently and reliably when leaning against a particular bubble is likely to do more harm than good. Housing-price bubbles should be a greater concern for Canadian monetary policy than equity-price bubbles, since rising housing prices are more likely to reflect excessively easy domestic credit conditions than are equity prices, which are largely determined in global markets.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles
Topic(s):
Inflation targets,
Monetary and financial indicators,
Monetary policy framework
The Implications of Transmission and Information Lags for the Stabilization Bias and Optimal Delegation
Staff Working Paper 2004-37
Jean-Paul Lam,
Florian Pelgrin
In two recent papers, Jensen (2002) and Walsh (2003), using a hybrid New Keynesian model, demonstrate that a regime that targets either nominal income growth or the change in the output gap can effectively replicate the outcome under commitment and hence reduce the size of the stabilization bias.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Inflation targets,
Monetary policy transmission
JEL Code(s):
E,
E5,
E52,
E58,
E6,
E62
Optimal Taylor Rules in an Estimated Model of a Small Open Economy
Staff Working Paper 2004-36
Steve Ambler,
Ali Dib,
Nooman Rebei
The authors compute welfare-maximizing Taylor rules in a dynamic general-equilibrium model of a small open economy.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Economic models,
Exchange rates,
Inflation targets
JEL Code(s):
F,
F2,
F3,
F31,
F33
A Simple Test of Simple Rules: Can They Improve How Monetary Policy is Implemented with Inflation Targets?
Staff Working Paper 2003-31
Nicholas Rowe,
David Tulk
The authors evaluate whether an assortment of simple rules could improve how the Bank of Canada implements its inflation-targeting monetary policy. They focus on measuring the correlation between the deviations of inflation from the target and the lagged deviations of rule recommendations from the actual policy interest rate.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Inflation targets,
Monetary policy implementation
JEL Code(s):
E,
E5
May 22, 2003
Inflation Targeting and Medium-Term Planning: Some Simple Rules of Thumb
Inflation targeting, a stable macroeconomic environment, and an average growth rate for potential output that is not expected to vary much in the next several years all help households, businesses, and governments in their medium-term economic and financial planning. Several simple rules of thumb can be usefully employed in this planning. Specifically, inflation targeting has maintained most major measures of inflation quite close to the target midpoint on average over a number of years. Combined with a clear fiscal framework, this has contributed to a more stable macroeconomic environment in which output varies less around its potential level. Potential output growth is expected to average around 3 per cent over the next several years. In light of these factors and historical relationships, labour income, profits, and consumer spending will likely grow, on average, by about 5 per cent over the medium term. Real and nominal long-term interest rates should also continue to be stable, with real 30-year yields varying around 3.5 or 4.0 per cent, and nominal yields varying around 5.5 or 6.0 per cent.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles
Topic(s):
Business fluctuations and cycles,
Inflation targets,
Inflation: costs and benefits
How to Improve Inflation Targeting at the Bank of Canada
Staff Working Paper 2002-23
Nicholas Rowe
This paper shows that if the Bank of Canada is optimally adjusting its monetary policy instrument in response to inflation indicators to target 2 per cent inflation at a two-year horizon, then deviations of inflation from 2 per cent represent the Bank's forecast errors, and should be uncorrelated with its information set, which includes two-year lagged values of the instrument and the indicators. Positive or negative correlations are evidence of systematic errors in monetary policy.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Inflation targets,
Monetary and financial indicators,
Monetary policy implementation
JEL Code(s):
E,
E5
May 21, 2002
Inflation and the Macroeconomy: Changes from the 1980s to the 1990s
Over the last 10 years, the level of inflation has been much lower than in the previous two decades. At the same time, the behaviour of inflation has changed profoundly. By surveying the data and the economic research, the author first examines changes in the variability, growth rates, and behaviour of some of the major macroeconomic variables during the 1980s and 1990s. He then looks at how these changes are linked to a shift in the approach of monetary policy over the period. Lastly, he reviews the economic benefits that these changes have had for Canada.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles
Topic(s):
Business fluctuations and cycles,
Credibility,
Inflation targets,
Inflation: costs and benefits
November 18, 2001
A New Measure of Core Inflation
While the Bank of Canada's inflation-control target is specified in terms of the rate of increase in the total consumer price index, the Bank uses a measure of trend or "core" inflation as a short-term guide for its monetary policy actions. When the inflation targets were renewed in May 2001, the Bank announced that it was adopting a new measure of core inflation. This measure excludes the eight most volatile components of the CPI and adjusts the remaining components for the effect of changes in indirect taxes. In this article, the author discusses the definition of the new measure of core inflation and describes some of its advantages relative to the previous measure. He notes that the new measure has a firmer statistical basis, has a better correspondence with economic theory, and does a better job of predicting future changes in overall inflation. While the new measure has these advantages, the Bank will continue to monitor a broad range of indicators when assessing the likely future path for inflation.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles
Topic(s):
Inflation targets
November 17, 2001
Predictability of Average Inflation over Long Time Horizons
Uncertainty about the level of future inflation adversely affects the economy because it distorts the savings and investment decisions of households and businesses. Since these decisions typically involve planning horizons of many years, the adverse effects from inflation uncertainty can be reduced by adopting a policy framework that makes future inflation more predictable over long time horizons. When the inflation-control target was renewed in May 2001, the agreement affirmed that monetary policy will be directed at moving inflation to the 2 per cent midpoint of the target range over a six-to-eight-quarter horizon. The author describes how this policy commitment increases the predictability of average inflation over periods longer than one year. This relationship is illustrated using the Canadian experience from the inflation-targeting period.
Content Type(s):
Publications,
Bank of Canada Review articles
Topic(s):
Inflation targets