As new entrants arrive in Canada's debit card market, rule changes are needed to ensure a level playing field, and to enhance the potential benefits of competition for consumers and merchants. In a study released today, the author assesses the implications of the rapidly changing debit payment...

During the past 30 years, Canada's share of world foreign direct investment (FDI) has been subject to a secular decline. Further, according to various measures of openness to foreign investments, Canada does not rank favourably against many of its peers. One of the culprits is Canada's foreign...

How far and how fast Canada's record-low interest rates will rise in the coming years is a vital question for consumers and businesses. In "The New 'Normal' for Interest Rates in Canada: The Implications of Long-Term Shifts in Global Saving and Investment," authors Paul Beaudry and Philippe...

Canadians are avid users of debit and credit cards and other electronic payment options. Compared to consumers in other countries, they are among the heaviest users of debit cards to make purchases at retail stores. But Canada’s payment system has fallen behind – cell phones with payment...

Market-based economies tend to exhibit cyclical behaviour. The recent financial crisis, with devastating impacts that are still being felt today, has added urgency to the drive to improve our understanding of business cycles. Pinpointing key turning points in the economy, meaning when recession...

Market-based economies tend to exhibit cyclical behaviour. The recent financial crisis, with devastating impacts that are still being felt today, has added urgency to the drive to improve our understanding of business cycles. Pinpointing key turning points in the economy, meaning when recession...

The Bank of Canada needs a better inflation indicator that is more sensitive to swings in house prices than the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The author points out that the CPI has not usefully reflected the rapid run-up in housing prices in recent years. He proposes a new official inflation...

Financial instruments indexed to the general price level are of great potential use to borrowers and lenders alike. But up until recently, they have been relatively scarce – in part because private borrowers dislike offering protection against inflation that they do not control. Since the...