This paper discusses several aspects of the medium-term orientation of OECD countries' economic policies in the 1980s, concentrating on monetary and fiscal instruments. The developments that led to the adoption of such a "medium-term strategy", and the apparent analytical rationale for it, are...

This paper discusses how monetary policy might assist macroeconomic performance in the second half of the 1980s in the G-10 countries, without compromising the medium-term objective of price stability. From this perspective, the recent stance of monetary policy is assessed, as well as its...

Core inflation is a useful concept for the theory and practice of monetary policy. The Bank of Canada maintains, in addition, that core inflation should be, and has in fact been, a useful predictor of headline inflation. Under the bank's policy of inflation targeting, however, this is incorrect:...

Wicksell, writing around the start of the 20th century, outlined an approach to monetary policy strikingly similar to the modern approach, of which the Bank of Canada has been a pioneer. Its features include: the overriding objective of price stability (or low inflation); an interest rate...

Monetary policy can be implemented effectively without reserve requirements as long as cost incentives ensure a predictable demand for settlement balances. A central bank can then achieve the level of short-term interest rates that it desires, using market-oriented instruments only. In Canada,...

The extent to which deviations from covered interest parity can be attributed to transactions costs has been exa ggerated in the economic literature because the swap market in foreig n exchange has been ignored. It is shown that such deviations should be no greater than the lowest of the...

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