The most comparable period.... We talked about it. We're here to talk about inflation, and the most comparable period for inflation would be in the late seventies, which happens to be when I started working. In my first job, I didn't have my licence to sell stocks as a stockbroker, so all I could do was Canada savings bonds. In 1978, they were at 9.5%, and three years later, they topped out at around 19.5%. Volcker was appointed in August 1979, when inflation was at 11%, and he eventually raised rates to 20%.
I'm not saying that those numbers are going to be reached, but with inflation in Canada at 5% or 6% and inflation in the U.S. approaching 8%.... As I mentioned in my presentation, the rise in mortgage interest rates is going to push the inflation rate higher. We are in a comparable situation when it comes to that, with inflation and interest rates.
However, the difference today is that there is a tremendously large amount of debt that's been taken on by housing, and that was not the case in 1980. With interest rates at 11% eventually going up to 20%, the amount of money that the average person could borrow was tiny compared to the amount that people can borrow today.