Monthly Archives: February 2015
Another Canadian Debt Ranking
Statistics Canada has released provisional estimates of the Canadian Government Finance Statistics (CGFS) for financial flows and the balance sheets of general government and government business enterprises for the period 2007 to 2012. The net liabilities per capita picture for provincial and territorial governments has changed since the 2008 global financial crisis.
If a central bank wants to shrink, it must threaten to grow (autographed edition)
[Nothing great or original here, except maybe the metaphor. It's supposed to be a simple teaching post.] Zimbabwe is only the most extreme recent example of this general rule; the central bank threatened to grow extremely large, and this caused it to shrink extremely small. The Swiss National Bank is another recent example, at the […]
What is the right sort of risky asset for central banks to own?
Should inflation targeting central banks hold a portfolio of assets that consists only of foreign lottery tickets? No, because if its portfolio of foreign lottery tickets became worthless, and the central bank were unable to get a bailout from the government, it would be unable to buy back the currency it has issued. So if […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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