The four essays published here provide a useful overview for anyone interested in understanding the issues and policy environment surrounding financial system stability. The first three essays consider different aspects of the question, What is financial stability/instability? The first essay,...

When the Bank of Canada was first established in 1935, it had two very different models to choose from--the Bank of England and the U.S. Federal Reserve--in terms of the instruments that it might use for implementing monetary policy. Although some aspects of the Bank's early monetary policy...

During the 1990s the Bank of Canada made several changes that transformed its conduct of monetary policy. In the 1960s and 1970s, policy decisions were made in an environment characterized by instrument opaqueness and goal opaqueness, which tended to shield the Bank's operations from scrutiny...

Counterfeiting is a significant public policy issue, because paper money, despite rumours of its demise, remains an important part of our payments system. Various parties have a stake in the prevention of counterfeiting. For individuals and businesses, the share of counterfeits in outstanding...