Inflation and prices

• June 12, 2024

  Central banking: Navigating in a new world

  Remarks Tiff Macklem 30th Conference of Montréal: International Economic Forum of the Americas Montréal, Quebec

  Governor Tiff Macklem looks back on the lessons learned from post-pandemic inflation and discusses the challenges ahead.

  Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Remarks Topic(s): Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Inflation and prices, Inflation: costs and benefits, International topics, Monetary policy

• Markups and Inflation in Oligopolistic Markets: Evidence from Wholesale Price Data

  Staff Working Paper 2024-20 Patrick Alexander, Lu Han, Oleksiy Kryvtsov, Ben Tomlin

  We study how the interaction of market power and nominal price rigidity influences inflation dynamics. We find that pass-through declines with price stickiness when markets are concentrated, which implies a lower slope of the New Keynesian Phillips curve.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Firm dynamics, Inflation and prices, Market structure and pricing, Monetary policy transmission JEL Code(s): D, D4, D43, E, E3, E31, L, L1, L13, L8, L81

• Endogenous Credibility and Wage-Price Spirals

  Staff Working Paper 2024-14 Olena Kostyshyna, Tolga Özden, Yang Zhang

  We quantitively assess the risks of a wage-price spiral occurring in Canada over history. We find the risk of a wage-price spiral increases when the inflation expectations become unanchored and the credibility of central banks declines.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Credibility, Inflation and prices, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): C, C2, C22, E, E0, E00, E4, E47, E7

• Pricing behaviour and inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from consumer prices microdata

  Staff Analytical Note 2024-6 Olga Bilyk, Mikael Khan, Olena Kostyshyna

  Using the microdata underlying the Canadian consumer price index, we study how often and by how much firms changed their prices during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that the surge in inflation was mainly associated with retailers raising prices much more often than before. We also find that more recently, corporate price-setting behaviour appears to be approaching pre-pandemic norms.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Firm dynamics, Inflation and prices, Recent economic and financial developments JEL Code(s): D, D2, D22, E, E3, E31, L, L1, L11
• March 26, 2024

  Time to break the glass: Fixing Canada’s productivity problem

  Remarks Carolyn Rogers Halifax Partnership Halifax, Nova Scotia

  Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers explains how higher productivity can protect the economy from future bouts of inflation and why fixing Canada's productivity problem should be a priority for all Canadians.

  Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Remarks Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Labour markets, Potential output, Productivity
• March 26, 2024

  The productivity problem

  Speech summary Carolyn Rogers Halifax Partnership Halifax, Nova Scotia

  Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers talks about some of the reasons for Canada’s poor productivity track record, and what we can do to turn the tide.

  Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Speech summaries Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Labour markets, Potential output, Productivity

• How Do Agents Form Macroeconomic Expectations? Evidence from Inflation Uncertainty

  Staff Working Paper 2024-5 Tao Wang

  The uncertainty regarding inflation that is observed in density forecasts of households and professionals helps macroeconomists understand the formation mechanism of inflation expectations. Shocks to inflation take time to be perceived by all agents in the economy, and such rigidity is lower in a high-inflation environment.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Business fluctuations and cycles, Inflation and prices, Monetary policy and uncertainty JEL Code(s): D, D8, D84, E, E3, E31, E7, E71

• Communicating Inflation Uncertainty and Household Expectations

  Staff Working Paper 2023-63 Olena Kostyshyna, Luba Petersen

  We examine the value of direct communication to households about inflation and the uncertainty around inflation statistics. All types of information about inflation are effective at immediately managing inflation expectations, with information about outlooks being more effective and relevant than that about recent inflation and Bank targets.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Central bank research, Credibility, Inflation and prices, Inflation targets, Monetary policy and uncertainty, Monetary policy communications JEL Code(s): C, C9, C93, D, D8, D84, E, E5, E59, E7
• December 21, 2023

  How higher interest rates affect inflation

  

  When the Bank of Canada changes its policy interest rate, it affects every part of the economy – but that does not happen all at once. Learn more about how raising and lowering interest rates takes effect through the monetary policy transmission mechanism.

  Content Type(s): Publications, The Economy, Plain and Simple Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Inflation targets, Interest rates, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy transmission
• December 15, 2023

  Lessons learned and looking ahead

  Speech summary Tiff Macklem Canadian Club Toronto Toronto, Ontario

  In his year-end remarks, Governor Tiff Macklem discusses how lessons learned from recent economic volatility are reshaping the way the Bank of Canada conducts economic analysis and communicates with the public.

  Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Speech summaries Topic(s): Economic models, Expectations, Inflation and prices, Inflation: costs and benefits, Interest rates, Labour markets, Monetary policy, Monetary policy and uncertainty, Monetary policy communications, Monetary policy transmission, Price stability