Inflation targets

• 16 May 2016 The Micro and Macro of Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2016 Robert Amano, Dany Brouillette, Stefano Gnocchi, Natalia Kyui

  The article examines the extent of downward nominal wage rigidity in Canada and its implications for monetary policy. The authors ask whether its existence is a sufficient argument for a higher inflation target if concerns about the effective lower bound are adequately addressed.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review Article Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Inflation targets, Labour markets, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E3, E4, E5, J, J2, J23, J3, J30

• 16 May 2016 Monetary Policy Frameworks: Recent International Developments

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2016 Robert Fay, Kristina Hess

  Inflation-targeting frameworks have remained relatively stable over the past few years despite significant challenges, including prolonged low inflation, a large negative commodity price shock and rising financial stability concerns in some economies. The tools used by central banks have, however, evolved substantially. This article provides a survey of the developments in the inflation-targeting frameworks of 10 central banks in advanced economies that correspond to the three research areas of the Bank of Canada’s 2016 renewal: the level of the inflation target, the measurement of core inflation and financial stability considerations in the formulation of monetary policy.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review Article Topic(s): Inflation targets, International topics, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58

• Understanding Firms' Inflation Expectations Using the Bank of Canada's Business Outlook Survey

  Staff Working Paper 2016-7 Simon Richards, Matthieu Verstraete

  Inflation expectations are a key determinant of actual and future inflation and thus matter for the conduct of monetary policy. We study how firms form their inflation expectations using quarterly firm-level data from the Bank of Canada’s Business Outlook Survey, spanning the 2001 to 2015 period.

  Content Type(s): Staff Research, Staff Working Papers Topic(s): Central bank research, Credibility, Econometric and statistical methods, Firm dynamics, Inflation and prices, Inflation targets, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): C, C1, C2, C25, D, D2, D21, D8, D84, E, E3, E31, E5, E52, E58

• Monetary Commitment and the Level of Public Debt

  Staff Working Paper 2016-3 Stefano Gnocchi, Luisa Lambertini

  We analyze the interaction between committed monetary policy and discretionary fiscal policy in a model with public debt, endogenous government expenditures, distortive taxation and nominal rigidities.

  Content Type(s): Staff Research, Staff Working Papers Topic(s): Credibility, Fiscal Policy, Inflation targets, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E2, E24, E3, E32, E5, E52

• The Optimal Level of the Inflation Target: A Selective Review of the Literature and Outstanding Issues

  Staff Discussion Paper 2015-8 Oleksiy Kryvtsov, Rhys R. Mendes

  Bank of Canada research done prior to the most recent renewal of the inflation-control agreement in 2011 concluded that the benefits associated with a target below 2 per cent were insufficient to justify the increased risk of being constrained by the zero lower bound (ZLB) on nominal interest rates.

  Content Type(s): Staff Research, Staff Discussion Papers Topic(s): Inflation targets, Inflation: costs and benefits, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58

• Targeting Inflation from Below - How Do Inflation Expectations Behave?

  Staff Working Paper 2014-52 Michael Ehrmann

  Inflation targeting (IT) had originally been introduced as a device to bring inflation down and stabilize it at low levels. Given the current environment of persistently weak inflation in many advanced economies, IT central banks must now bring inflation up to target.

  Content Type(s): Staff Research, Staff Working Papers Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Inflation targets JEL Code(s): C, C5, C53, E, E3, E31, E5, E52, E58

• Central Bank Communications Before, During and After the Crisis: From Open-Market Operations to Open-Mouth Policy

  Staff Working Paper 2013-41 Ianthi Vayid

  The days when secrecy and opacity were the bywords of central banking are gone. The advent of inflation targeting in the early 1990s acted as the catalyst for enhanced transparency and communications in the conduct of monetary policy.

  Content Type(s): Staff Research, Staff Working Papers Topic(s): Central bank research, Credibility, Financial stability, Inflation targets, Monetary policy framework, Monetary policy implementation JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52, E58

• 16 August 2012 Measurement Bias in the Canadian Consumer Price Index: An Update

  Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2012 Patrick Sabourin

  The consumer price index (CPI) is the most commonly used measure to track changes in the overall level of prices. Since it departs from a true cost-of-living index, the CPI is subject to four types of measurement bias—commodity substitution, outlet substitution, new goods and quality adjustment. The author updates previous Bank of Canada estimates of measurement bias in the Canadian CPI by examining these four sources of potential bias. He finds the total measurement bias over the 2005–11 period to be about 0.5 percentage point per year, consistent with the Bank’s earlier findings. Slightly more than half of this bias is caused by the fixed nature of the CPI basket of goods and services.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review Article Topic(s): Inflation and prices, Inflation targets JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E5, E52

• 17 May 2012 Inflation Targeting: The Recent International Experience

  Bank of Canada Review - Spring 2012 Robert Lavigne, Rhys R. Mendes, Subrata Sarker

  In the years since the 2006 renewal of Canada’s inflation-control agreement, monetary policy regimes have faced significant shocks, including the global economic and financial crisis. This article reviews the recent experience with inflation targeting, including the debate about the appropriate role of monetary policy in maintaining financial stability. In the aftermath of the crisis, both […]

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review Article Topic(s): Credibility, Financial stability, Inflation targets, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E5, E52, E58

• 19 August 2010 Monetary Policy and the Zero Bound on Nominal Interest Rates

  Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2010 Robert Amano, Malik Shukayev

  The recent financial crisis and global economic slowdown have renewed interest in monetary policy options when the policy interest rate is at or near zero.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review Article Topic(s): Inflation targets, Monetary policy framework