The goal of this paper is to compare the long-term fiscal outlook in Canada and the United States using a simple measure of the sustainability of federal fiscal policy. The paper begins by explaining that standard Canada-US fiscal comparisons can be misleading because they do not take account of...

Many institutions issue debt in both short-term markets, which implies frequent rebalancing, and long-term bond markets, which typically pay a higher coupon. The liability manager must consider this risk/cost trade-off in the face of uncertain interest rates and funding requirements. The debt...

Most existing studies on medium-term fiscal planning focus on a single source of uncertainty, which is captured by including additive random error terms in stochastic simulation models. The fiscal authority in these models plans its budget with complete knowledge of the structure of the economy,...

The paper simulates long-run debt paths for the federal and each provincial-territorial government using a model that captures the effects of population ageing on economic growth and government revenues and expenditures. The model incorporates alternative assumptions about the rate of growth of...

Questions have been raised as to whether the equalization payments system in Canada is such that a recipient government’s tax and expenditure policies may have a direct effect on the size of its equalization payment. As a result, there has been discussion over the possible links between the...

This paper examines the role of legislated fiscal rules in determining fiscal performance. It reviews the rationale for fiscal rules and discusses the advantages and drawbacks associated with them, notably the possibility that rules may impede countercyclical fiscal policy. The paper then...