Chris Ragan

What's New?

"Financial Stability: The Next Frontier for Canadian Monetary Policy [.pdf]", C.D. Howe Institute Commentary 338, January 2012.

"The Roads Not Taken: Why the Bank of Canada Stayed With Inflation Targeting [.pdf]", C.D. Howe Institute E-Brief 125, November 2011.

"Canada's Looming Fiscal Squeeze (Revised) [.pdf]", published by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, November 2011, Revised Version (March 2012). Click here to see the presentation [.ppt]

"The Evolution of Canadian Monetary Policy: Successful Ideas Through Natural Selection [.pdf]", paper written for a festschrift in honour of Ian Stewart, New Directions for Intelligent Government in Canada, published by the Center for the Study of Living Standards, September 2011.

"Fixing Canada's CPI: A Simple and Sensible Policy Change for Minister Flaherty [.pdf]", C.D. Howe Institute E-Brief 111, March 2011.

"Precision Targeting: The Economics -- and Politics -- of Improving Canada's Inflation-Targeting Framework [.pdf]", C.D. Howe Institute Commentary 321, February 2011.

Books

The Canadian Priorities Agenda: Policy Choices to Improve Economic and Social Well-Being The Canadian Priorities Agenda is designed to stimulate debate about Canada's policy priorities over the medium term. Governments cannot do everything and thus they must choose which policies to pursue and which to leave behind. Such choice requires comparing the costs and benefits of very different policies. The complete book is now available at the website for the Institute for Research on Public Policy. The editors' introduction [.pdf] and the editors' epilogue [.pdf] are available here.

Is the Debt War Over? In the Spring of 2004, Bill Watson and I edited a book on Canadian government debt for the Institute for Research on Public Policy called Is the Debt War Over? Dispatches From Canada's Fiscal Frontline. Click here for our Introductory essay [.pdf].

Articles

My academic articles are divided into five categories. Within each category, the papers are listed in reverse chronological order.

1. General Economic Policy
2. Inflation and Monetary Policy
3. Mandated Job Security in Labour Markets
4. RRSPs and National Saving
5. Long-Term Labour Contracts

General Economic Policy

"Canada's Looming Fiscal Squeeze (Revised) [.pdf]", published by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, November 2011, Revised Version (March 2012). Click here to see the presentation [.ppt]

"Two Policy Challenges Driven by Population Aging [.pdf]", Policy Options, pages 72-79, October 2010.

"The U.S. Housing Collapse and the Financial Crisis of 2007-08 [.pdf]", published as an on-line "Additional Topic" for Economics, 13th Canadian Edition, Pearson Education Canada (February 2010).Click here to see the presentation. [.ppt]

"From the Fiscal Squeeze to Climate Change: Canada's Coming Economic Challenges [.pdf]", Policy Options, pages 43-50, October 2009.

"A Federal Budget Designed for the Times: The Economic Action Plan of 2009 [.pdf]", paper presented at the budget conference held at the John Deutsch Institute at Queen's University, May 7-8, 2009. Slides for the presentation are available here. [.ppt]

"Canada's Virtuous Cycle: A Triumph of Conservative Economics? [.pdf]", Policy Options, pages 16-27, October 2008.

"Filling a Shrinking Gap: EDC's Changing Role in the Market for Export-Credit Insurance [.pdf]", a report written under contract for Export Development Canada, April 2008.

"The Canadian Priorities Agenda [.pdf]", Policy Options, pages 4-11, April-May 2006.

Inflation and Monetary Policy

"Financial Stability: The Next Frontier for Canadian Monetary Policy [.pdf]", C.D. Howe Institute Commentary 338, January 2012.

"The Roads Not Taken: Why the Bank of Canada Stayed With Inflation Targeting [.pdf]", C.D. Howe Institute E-Brief 125, November 2011.

"The Evolution of Canadian Monetary Policy: Successful Ideas Through Natural Selection [.pdf]", paper written for a festschrift in honour of Ian Stewart, New Directions for Intelligent Government in Canada, published by the Center for the Study of Living Standards, September 2011.

"Fixing Canada's CPI: A Simple and Sensible Policy Change for Minister Flaherty [.pdf]", C.D. Howe Institute E-Brief 111, March 2011.

"Precision Targeting: The Economics -- and Politics -- of Improving Canada's Inflation-Targeting Framework [.pdf]", C.D. Howe Institute Commentary 321, February 2011.

"Tackling Asset-Price Bubbles [.pdf]", interviews with six economists on the connection between asset prices and monetary policy, Central Banking, pages 39-52, Fall 2008.

"New Tools for Central Bankers? [.pdf]", interview on the new monetary-policy tools being used by central banks, Central Banking, pages 53-54, Fall 2008.

"Three Myths About Canada's Flexible Exchange Rate [.pdf]", Policy Options, pages 29-35, February 2008.

"Why Monetary Policy Matters: A Canadian Perspective (abridged version) [.pdf]", Bank of Canada Review, pages 19-25, Winter 2006-07.
(© Bank of Canada. Reprinted with permission)

"The Exchange Rate and Canadian Inflation Targeting (Abridged Version) [.pdf]", Bank of Canada Review, p. 41-50, Autumn 2005.
(© Bank of Canada. Reprinted with permission)

"The Road Ahead for Canadian Inflation Targeting [.pdf]", Issues in Inflation Targeting (Bank of Canada conference volume), Ottawa, April 2005, pages 3-45.
(© Bank of Canada. Reprinted with permission)

"The Exchange Rate and Canadian Inflation Targeting [.pdf]", Bank of Canada Working Paper, 2005-34.

"Why Monetary Policy Matters: A Canadian Perspective [.pdf]", 2005.

"Milton Friedman and the Audible Click [.pdf]", Policy Options, Institute for Research on Public Policy, March 2002.

"Would Fixed Rates Make Markets More Flexible? [.pdf]", Policy Options, Institute for Research on Public Policy, May 2001.

"Should We Expect Higher Growth from Lower Inflation? [.pdf]", Canadian Business Economics (August 2000), pages 19-31.

"Explaining a Seeming Inconsistency: The Exchange Rate and the Bank of Canada [.pdf]", Canadian Business Economics (December 1999), pages 34-37.

"On the Believable Benefits of Low Inflation [.pdf]", Bank of Canada Working Paper 98-15 (1998).

"Deriving Agents' Inflation Forecasts from the Term Structure of Interest Rates [.pdf]", Bank of Canada Working Paper 95-1 (1995).

"A Framework for Examining the Real Effects of Inflation Volatility [.pdf]", in Economic Behaviour and Policy Choice Under Price Stability, Bank of Canada, 1994, pages 419-468.

Mandated Job Security in Labour Markets

"Job Security and Equilibrium Unemployment [.doc]", Labour Economics 5 (1998), pages 185-204 (joint with S. Hogan).

"Is There Compelling Evidence Against Increasing Returns to Matching? [.pdf]" Canadian Journal of Economics XXIX (November 1996), pages 976-993 (joint with S. Baker and S. Hogan).

"Job Security and Labour Market Flexibility [.pdf]", Canadian Public Policy XXI (June 1995), pages 74-86 (joint with S. Hogan).

"Employment Adjustment versus Hours Adjustment: Is Job Security Desirable? [.pdf]", Economica 62 (November 1995), pages 495-505 (joint with S. Hogan).

RRSPs and National Saving

"A Case for Abolishing RRSPs [.doc]", in When We're 65: Reforming Canada's Retirement Income System, C.D. Howe Institute, 1996, pages 57-92.

"RRSPs and National Saving [.pdf]", paper prepared for the Federal Department of Finance, December 1995.

"Progressive Income Taxes and the Substitution Effect of RRSPs [.pdf]", Canadian Journal of Economics XXVII (February 1994), pages 43-57.

Long-Term Labour Contracts

"A Risk-Sharing View of Real Wages and Contract Length [.pdf]", Canadian Journal of Economics XXVIII (November 1995), pages 1161-1179.

"Do Contracts Matter in Canada? [.pdf]", Canadian Journal of Economics XXVII (May 1994), pages 255-272.