Finance committee  Thank you. I think monetary policy has absolutely exacerbated the inequality in our society, because it has explicitly targeted inflation control. One effect of that is to enhance the real value of wealth—that's how Chris put it—at the expense of targeting full employment, tryin

Finance committee  Firstly, Mr. Marston, in regard to your earlier points, we really do have a serious problem. While monetary and fiscal policy in Canada was tremendously important at the outbreak of the crisis at the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009, we have stalled since roughly the spring

Finance committee  I think Mario's response has brought out a key problem in the way that the Bank of Canada looks at unemployment today. They certainly are aware of unemployment. They care about unemployment, and the level of unemployment influences their actions, as I think all of us have agreed.

Finance committee  If I were to follow an inflation-targeting system, which I indicated I think is not adequate, I would suggest the target should be higher in light of some of the economic evidence from the last couple of years about the problem of the zero-bound, where interest rates can't go bel

Finance committee  Thank you, sir. In terms of the job numbers, this month's numbers were very worrisome. Whether that's a one-month blip—there is a bit of month-to-month movement in these things—or the sign of something worse is not yet clear. But we have never in recent history had a jobs numbe

Finance committee  Thank you, sir, and committee members. I am very grateful for the invitation to participate in this discussion. I see that the government announced last week that the target is going to be extended for five years. I'm not sure how we'll fit into that decision process, but I thin