Thank you.
The choice of inflation targets as a regime for monetary policy in Canada is now over 25 years old. It grew out of a horrific experience with high inflation. It is unambiguously accepted in the economic literature that lower inflation over the last 20 years has led to better economic performance for all participants in the economy—all—whether they're working, whether they're retired, whether they hope to retire, everybody. That is unambiguous.
Many of the very fine points that you have made are what I would call disequilibrium points; that is, they are partial equilibrium: it's true that if this happens, then this happens. It must, however, be considered in the context of the entire economy and whether the economy has achieved an equilibrium that will stay.
Our belief, very strongly held, is that the economy does not stop moving until inflation is stable and the rest of the economy has adjusted to that level. That defines what we call the “divine coincidence”, in which we have maximized employment—