Volume 11, Issue 1 January 2015

How Monetary Policy Is Made: Two Canadian Tales

Abstract

We examine policy rate recommendations of the Bank of Canada's Governing Council (GC) and its shadow, the C.D. Howe Institute's Monetary Policy Council (MPC). Individual recommendations of the MPC are observed but not those of the GC. Differences in the two committees' recommendations are small but persistent. The MPC is more responsive to the output gap than its GC counterpart. Both committees respond similarly to inflation. Disagreement within the MPC and with the GC is more likely when rates are rising. Finally, the Bank's forward guidance had a significant influence on the MPC's views about the future inflation path.

Authors

  • Pierre L. Siklos
  • Matthias Neuenkirch

JEL codes

  • E43
  • E52
  • E58
  • E61
  • E69

Other papers in this issue

Jan in 't Veld and Andrea Pagano and Rafal Raciborski and Marco Ratto and Werner Roeger

Giovanni Di Bartolomeo and Patrizio Tirelli and Nicola Acocella

Simon Dubecq and Benoit Mojon and Xavier Ragot

Tatiana Damjanovic and Vladislav Damjanovic and Charles Nolan