Op-Eds
La partie ne sera pas facile, mais les régulateurs ont commencé à serrer la vis au Bitcoin, à ses milliers de cousins cryptos et aux infrastructures qui gravitent dans cet univers opaque et apatride.
La Financial Conduct Authority du Royaume-Uni, incapable de superviser adéquatement Binance, la plus grande Bourse de cryptomonnaies au monde, interdit ses activités sur son territoire. La plateforme n’a pas répondu aux questions de base posées par le régulateur, qui estime que ses « produits complexes et à haut risque » font courir des « risques significatifs » aux investisseurs.
Binance, incorporée dans les îles Caïman, n’a pas de siège social. Chaque mois, il se négocie sur cette Bourse immatérielle des…
On Wednesday, the Bank of Canada left its target for the overnight rate at 25 basis points while scaling back its quantitative easing (QE) program, reducing the pace of its purchases of Government of Canada debt from $3-billion a week to $2-billion. Lifting its foot off the QE pedal is warranted given recent inflation readings and other underlying metrics. At the same time, however, the unchanged overnight rate target actually represents an easing of monetary policy since the bank’s last announcement six weeks ago, because inflation expectations have increased, and the recovering economy has probably raised the level of the overnight rate that would be consistent with steady growth and 2-per-cent inflation.
Let’s unpack these two…
Governments in the advanced economies mounted a massive fiscal response to the COVID crisis. They ramped up spending, mainly on income supports to individuals and businesses, and financed it by borrowing. Central banks also responded on a massive scale. They dropped their policy interest rates close to zero, and their balance sheets ballooned as they bought securities — mainly government debt — and flooded the global financial system with liquidity.
These responses undoubtedly cushioned the COVID blow to our economies. But, more than a year later, especially in the United States and Canada, both fiscal and monetary policy are still in overdrive. It is reasonable to worry that they are going too far.
On the fiscal side, the…
On Wednesday, the Bank of Canada left its target for the overnight rate at 0.25 per cent, and kept its purchases of Government of Canada bonds at $3-billion per week. Forecasters and financial market participants expected these announcements, and took them in stride. Below the calm surface, though, a couple of key questions about Canadian monetary policy are causing concern.
One is about where inflation is going. The year-over-year increase in the consumer price index (CPI) hit 3.4 per cent in April, its highest reading in a decade, and above the 1- to 3 -per-cent acceptable range the central bank has for its 2-per-cent target. The bank’s statement on Wednesday emphasized that such above-target CPI increases are temporary. When…
En matière d’inflation, il se peut qu’à force de crier au loup, la bête surgisse pour de vrai. Il suffit que tout le monde y croie et se comporte comme tel, pour que l’inflation apparaisse.
A contrario, si tous les agents économiques pensent que l’inflation restera en moyenne à 2 %, il y a de bonnes chances que cette conviction s’autoréalise. D’où, pour une banque centrale, l’importance névralgique de l’ancrage des anticipations.
J’exagère un peu, mais pas tellement. De fait, l’économie est toujours balayée par des vents contraires qui poussent l’inflation à la hausse ou à la baisse. Mais si les anticipations sont bien arrimées, la banque centrale n’aura pas à beaucoup changer son taux directeur pour que les…
