Author Archives: wciecon
The Bank of Canada and the dollar in the short and long term
Perhaps the strongest signal that the recession is over is the fact that the appreciation of the CAD is making headlines, just as it did in the last expansion. But since we're operating at the interest rate lower bound, things are a bit trickier this time around. In the short term, there is a good […]
The September LFS report: Employment and hours worked
Last Friday's LFS release was the best we've seen in a long while. Not only did employment increase for the second month in a row, there was a significant jump in hours worked as well.
Flashbacks to the 1970’s: the Bank of Canada and the deficit
Doug Peters and Arthur Donner (names I remember from the 1970s debate over inflation in Canada) have an opinion piece in the Toronto Star on the role of the Bank of Canada in reducing the budget deficit. It starts out fine, but ends in a non-sequitur.
On the role of house prices in the last expansion
I have at various points (here and here) been driven up the wall by lazy journalists who have worked under the assumption that if the US housing market was crashing and burning, then so was Canada's. This premise has led to any number of articles cut-and-pasted from the south with 'US' being replaced by 'Canada'. […]
How to kill an afternoon
Do a google street map walking tour of Old Québec. You could do worse than start at the building where my wife works: View Larger Map It's been said before, and I'll say it again: Quebec City is spectacular.
The PBO and the OLO
Michael Ignatieff has been talking recently about the importance of an independent Parliamentary Budget Office, and Kevin Milligan at Support the OPBO is paying attention: Ignatieff takes up the cause More support of the PBO from the OLO Go read them; Kevin's doing a great job of commenting on the various issues surrounding the idea […]
That’s not shadow banking, that’s the stock and bond markets
Paul Krugman has a flow chart showing flows of savings from ultimate lenders to ultimate borrowers. One arrow goes via the banks. Paul labels it "traditional banking"; that's fine. People deposit their savings in banks, and the banks lend those savings to other people or firms. But a second arrow goes directly from "the public" […]
Measuring employment in Canada: LFS vs SEPH
Statistics Canada publishes two sets of numbers for employment. The one that makes the headlines is from the Labour Force Survey of households, and it is released on the first or second Friday following the month in question. The other series is the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours of employers, and it is released […]
Journalism and Economics
Brad De Long thinks very highly of Greg Ip, even when Brad thinks Greg gets something wrong. Brad thinks Greg is very sharp. So do I. But the other reason why Greg Ip is such a good economic journalist is that he was thoroughly trained in both Journalism and Economics. And I'm very proud to […]
The federal deficit is small, manageable problem with a simple solution. So why are politicians being so boneheaded?
The editorial cartoon in yesterday's Le Soleil has the best take I've seen yet on the issue of how to deal with the federal deficit. The target is Michael Ignatieff, but it could just have well have been Stephen Harper, because their positions on this issue are identical. Here is my approximate translation of the […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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