While inflation never materialized after the last financial crisis and the subsequent economic expansion, this time will be different, said Erik Weisman, portfolio manager and chief economist at MFS Investment Management, when speaking at the Canadian Investment Review’s Investment Innovation Conference in November. After the global financial crisis, quantitative easing didn’t generate inflation because the […]
President-elect Joe Biden will inherit a vulnerable economic recovery under threat from a resurgent virus, likely with a divided Congress that will hinder his ability to address the challenges. Yet despite the obstacles, the former vice-president and senator will pursue a drastic shift in America’s economic policy. He has vowed to reverse much of the […]
The Bank of Canada kept its key interest rate on hold Wednesday as it said the country’s economy won’t recoup the losses from the coronavirus until 2022, with the road to recovery dependent on the path of the pandemic. In July, the Bank of Canada said it believed the country had been spared from a […]
Canada’s headline inflation measure went up in September by 0.5 per cent compared with a year ago, a better-than-expected increase, but one that experts say won’t sway the Bank of Canada’s stimulus measures. Economists had, on average, expected a year-over-year increase of 0.4 per cent, according to financial data firm Refinitiv, following readings of 0.1 […]
How do the European Central Bank’s monetary-policy decisions influence corporate debt levels in the U.S.? The ECB’s purchasing of investment-grade, corporate, Euro-denominated bonds seemingly crowded Eurozone institutional investors out of such instruments and Eurozone investors increased their allocations to U.S. dollar corporate bonds soon after, according to a new paper by Kerry Siani, a PhD […]
The head of the European Central Bank says the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic “risks losing momentum” due to a second wave of infections and that more stimulus could be added if necessary. “The second wave of the pandemic in Europe, notably in France, and the resulting new restrictions are adding to the uncertainty […]
Pandemic-related shifts in how people shop, sending more people into cyberspace than a physical space, means central banks must speed up work on creating their own digital currencies, says a top Bank of Canada official. The coronavirus has meant more people are shopping online, and foot traffic for brick-and-mortar storefronts hasn’t caught up to pre-pandemic […]
The governor of the Bank of Canada said managing the risks from the pandemic is more critical than ever and it is key to a recovery and the stability of society. Tiff Macklem said in a Thursday morning speech that a second historic recession in just over a decade underlines how managing financial system risks […]
The Federal Reserve expects to keep its benchmark interest rate pegged near zero at least through 2023 as it strives to accelerate economic growth and drive down the unemployment rate. The central bank also said Wednesday that it will seek to push inflation above two per cent annually. The Fed left its benchmark short-term rate […]
The Bank of Canada sought Wednesday to temper economic excitement about a sharper-than-expected rebound from the depths of the coronavirus crisis, pointing to worrying trends that signal all is still not well. In a statement, the central bank’s governing council said the bounce-back activity in the third quarter looks to be faster than it anticipated […]