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Investigación económica

versión impresa ISSN 0185-1667

Inv. Econ vol.63 no.249 Ciudad de México jul./sep. 2004

 

Articles

From the Canadian Experiment of the 1990’s: A New Consensus on Monetary Policy

Del experimento canadiense de los noventa: un nuevo consenso de política monetaria

Edwin Le Heron* 

* Maître de conférences at the Institut des Sciencies Politiques-Bordeaux-France, researcher at the Centre de Recherches et d’Études sur le Canada et le Québec en Sciences Sociales (CRECQSS) and President of the French Association for the Development of Keynesian Studies (ADEK) <e.le.heron@sciencespobordeaux.fr> <adek@sciencespobordeaux.fr>.


Abstract:

By analyzing the documents issued by the Bank of Canada, a new, original, monetary policy begins to emerge. The Canadian monetary policy tries to maintain its autonomy, while at the same time respecting floating exchange rates. The numerous innovations are the foundations of a New Consensus on monetary policy. Far from the dilemma of rule versus discretion of the former Monetarist and Keynesian methods, a new dilemma will be the focal point, that of credibility versus confidence. Here, the anticipations of the economic agents, the behavior of financial markets and the price of assets play a dominant role. Based on the innovative experiment of the Bank of Canada during the 1990s, the characteristics of the New Consensus is explained. Far from making independent central banks some high-powered institutions, it shows them instead to be "statues with feet of clay".

Resumen:

Analizando los documentos publicados por el banco de Canadá, comienza a emerger una nueva y original política monetaria. La política monetaria cana diense intenta mantener su autonomía, mientras que al mismo tiempo respeta el tipo de cambio flotante. Las numerosas innovaciones son la fundación de un nuevo consenso en la política monetaria. Lejos del dilema de regla versus discreción de los anteriores métodos monetaristas y keynesianos, el nuevo dilema será el de credibilidad versus confianza. Aquí, las anticipaciones de los agentes económicos, el comportamiento de los mercados financieros y el precio de los activos desempeñan un papel dominante. Las características del nuevo consenso serán explicadas de acuerdo con el experimento innovador del banco de Canadá durante los noventa. Lejos de hacer a los bancos centrales independientes de algunas instituciones de alto poder, los muestra, más bien, como "estatuas con pies de arcilla".

JEL Classification: E42, E50, E52, E58.

Texto completo disponible sólo en PDF

Full text available only in PDF format

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Received: October 2002; Accepted: June 2003

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