Measuring the AI Economy Staff working paper 2026-20 Anton Korinek, Patrick McKelvey We construct a macroeconomic estimate of total AI production in the United States, combining inference and R&D/training activities with quality adjustments to account for algorithmic progress. We then develop a nascent framework for "AI GDP" that tracks the AI economy as a coherent whole, complementing traditional national accounts. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C4, C43, E, E0, E01, E2, E22, E3, E31, O, O3, O33, O4, O47 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Digitalization and productivity
Unpacking interest rate uncertainty in 2025 Staff analytical paper 2026-25 Harshbir Kaur, Rishi Vala Amid heightened Canada–US trade tensions in 2025, financial markets showed signs that investors had greater difficulty anticipating near-term Bank of Canada interest rate decisions. We look at the Overnight Index Swap prices and intraday Government of Canada yields to identify the main driver of uncertainty around interest rate decisions. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical paper JEL Code(s): C, C5, C58, D, D5, D53, E, E4, E44, E5, E52, E58 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission
Central Bank Crisis Interventions and the Term Structure of Market Fear Staff working paper 2026-17 Mattia Bevilacqua, Jon Danielsson, Lerby Ergun, Andreas Uthemann, Jean-Pierre Zigrand How do central bank crisis interventions calm market fears? Using options data, we measure the perceived risk of large asset price drops across horizons from two weeks to ten years. Studying the Fed's response to the 2020 turmoil, we find asset purchases reduce short-term fears while interest rate actions shape long-term expectations. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C5, C58, E, E5, E58, G, G0, G01, G1, G12, G15 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, Market functioning, Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods
Assessing global potential output growth: April 2026 Staff analytical paper 2026-20 Daniel de Munnik, Kristina Hess, Walter Muiruri, Tuuli McCully, Faiza Noor, Sabreena Obaid, Andrew Plummer, Louis Poirier, Abeer Reza, Jillian Schwartz We present the annual update of the Bank of Canada staff estimates for global potential output growth. These estimates served as key inputs to the analysis supporting the April 2026 Monetary Policy Report. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical paper JEL Code(s): E, E1, E2, F, F0, F1, O, O3, O33, O4 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting, Structural challenges, Demographics and labour supply, Digitalization and productivity
Climate Change and Socio-economic inequality in the US Staff working paper 2026-16 Barbara Sadaba, Tatjana Dahlhaus This paper examines how climate change affects income inequality across US states. Using a new climate-inequality VAR and a century of daily temperature data, it shows that shifts across the full temperature distribution—not just average warming—have diverse effects on within-state inequality. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C1, C11, C3, C32, D, D6, D63, Q, Q5, Q54 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Structural challenges, Climate change
Measuring how financial sector economists respond to the tone of Bank of Canada communications Sparks at Bank article Amanda Wang, Xu Zhang, Xinfen Han The words central banks use to explain policy decisions matter. They can, in some cases, affect financial markets just like changes in policy interest rates do. For this reason, we built a tool to track the tone of the Bank of Canada’s policy communications and assess how tone affects market perceptions. Content Type(s): Staff research, Sparks at Bank article Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission, Monetary policy tools and implementation
Examining the macro drivers of mortgage arrears in Canada Staff analytical paper 2026-12 Thomas Michael Pugh, Tao Wang, Taylor Webley Mortgage debt represents over 70% of all Canadian household financial liabilities, and the performance of these debts is critical to the health of the financial system. We explore the relationships between mortgage arrears and key macroeconomic fundamentals such as labour market variables, interest rates, house prices and inflation. We then develop a framework to assess future household mortgage stress. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical paper JEL Code(s): E, E2, E3, E37, E5, G, G5, G51 Research Theme(s): Financial system, Financial stability and systemic risk, Household and business credit, Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Monetary policy, Real economy and forecasting
Beating the “pros” with a semi-structural model of their own inflation forecasts Staff working paper 2026-11 Sergio A. Lago Alves, Waldyr Dutra Areosa, Carlos Viana de Carvalho How can Surveys of Professional Forecasters (SPF) be used to improve inflation forecasts? By using US historical quarterly data on SPF forecasts, we provide better understanding of how we can use forecast disagreement to improve our own forecasts. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C1, C11, C5, C53, E, E3, E31, E37 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Monetary policy, Inflation dynamics and pressures, Real economy and forecasting
Estimation and Inference for Stochastic Volatility Models with Heavy-Tailed Distributions Staff working paper 2026-8 Gabriel Rodriguez Rondon, Jean-Marie Dufour, Md. Nazmul Ahsan Statistical inference--both estimation and testing--for stochastic volatility (SV) models is known to be challenging and computationally demanding. We propose simple and efficient estimators for SV models with conditionally heavy-tailed error distributions, particularly the Student’s t and Generalized Exponential Distributions (GED). The estimators rely on a small set of moment conditions derived from ARMA-type representations of SV models, with an option to apply “winsorization” to improve stability and finite-sample performance. Except for the degrees of-freedom parameter, closed-form expressions are available for all other parameters, extending Ahsan and Dufour (2019, 2021), thus eliminating the need for numerical optimization or initial values. We derive the estimators’ asymptotic distribution and show that, due to their analytical tractability, they support reliable, and even exact, simulation-based inference via Monte Carlo or bootstrap methods. We assess their performance through extensive simulations and demonstrate their practical relevance in financial return data, which strongly reject the normality assumption in favor of heavy-tailed models. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): C, C1, C12, C13, C15, C2, C22, C5, C51, C53, C58 Research Theme(s): Financial markets and funds management, International markets and currencies, Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Economic models
Macro News in Market Moves: Classifying News through Asset Co-movements Staff analytical paper 2026-7 Bruno Feunou, Jean-Sébastien Fontaine, Rishi Vala This paper introduces CLONE, a method that decomposes asset price movements into aggregate demand, productivity, inflation, and monetary policy news, using stocks, bonds, and inflation swaps. CLONE simplicity and forward-looking focus helps guide policymakers in determining the economic drivers behind asset price movements. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical paper JEL Code(s): E, E3, E32, E4, E44, G, G1, G12, G14 Research Theme(s): Models and tools, Econometric, statistical and computational methods, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework and transmission