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...

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...

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...

The Bank of Canada should pay closer attention to the effects of money and credit growth on inflation and asset markets. The authors contend that maintaining price stability should remain the Bank’s only formal goal, but say greater attention should be paid to asset market stability. Once the...

Crown corporations are business enterprises owned by governments – having been established to achieve a range of public policy goals, they tend also to have revenue-generating objectives. In the financial sector, the Crowns typically had their origins in a perceived lack of credit – a credit...

The Canadian labour market suffered a severe blow during the last recession, with more than 430,000 persons losing their jobs and the unemployment rate reaching levels unseen since the latter half of the 1990s. Subsequently, the labour market has shown great resilience, and there are now 900,000...

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...

With the Canadian dollar near parity with its US counterpart, monetary policymakers may come under pressure to curb future interest rate increases to limit the loonie’s appreciation. When the value of the loonie is in line with economic fundamentals, such actions would necessarily compromise...

Credit rating agencies have been blamed for their role in the recent financial crisis, notably for having assigned high ratings to complex financial instruments that yielded billions in losses to investors. As a consequence, a number of reforms have been proposed or introduced – including for...

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...