Periods when inflation is low and few people are paying attention to central banking are happy times.
In Canada, these are not happy times. Inflation is high and the Bank of Canada is under scrutiny. Unhappiness will increase as the bank increases its policy interest rate to get inflation back to its 2-per-cent target, because tighter monetary policy will pinch consumers and businesses before it reduces inflation.
That poses risks – notably that politics will interfere with monetary policy. Since politicians don’t like monetary-policy pinches, interference could result in inflation staying higher for longer. Odd as it may seem when the Bank of Canada has already let inflation get so far above target, continuing to protect…
Last week the Canadian and American governments announced plans to liquidate Russian assets frozen by sanctions and to distribute the funds to affected victims and to war-torn countries. The measures have been devised to inflict even greater penalties on that country as a result of its illegal invasion of Ukraine and the appalling atrocities committed by Russian forces there in recent weeks.
As the ground war grinds on, this is a significant escalation of the parallel sanctions battle, illustrating their ever-expanding reach and presaging long-lasting effects on international business, not only involving Russia but with potential expansion to other places where Western sanctions apply, such as Myanmar, Iran and Syria.
In…
The retail trade data for February, released Friday, show a continuing rebound in in-person shopping relative to the online variety, as people-to-people interactions emerged from restrictions imposed during the pandemic.
Retail e-commerce — which includes when goods purchased online are subsequently picked up in a store — was a lifeline for Canadian businesses in 2020. But in-store shopping has come back with a vengeance. Despite the emergence of high-profile online suppliers, fierce competition remains the order of the day in retail.
Since peaking at 10 per cent of total sales by Canadian retailers in the first days of the pandemic, e-commerce’s share of retail sales has fallen sharply — to just over five…
