Commentary The Bank of Canada, as well as other central banks of Western nations, continues to raise interest rates. This program began in the summer of 2021 after it became apparent that the unprecedented expansion of the money supply due to the lockdowns has manifested in, at one point, almost double-digit inflation. The United States…

Commentary On the longest day of the year, the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services welcomed Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell to address its concerns around inflation and weakness in the U.S. economy. Powell warned Congress that the fight against inflation is far from over, that the battle will be a long, hard slog, and…

A study by the University of Waterloo suggests that Canada’s carbon pricing scheme is creating large financial risks, especially for the resource sector. The study, titled Carbon Costs and Credit Risk in a Resource-Based Economy: Carbon Cost Impact on the Z-Score of Canadian TSX 260 Companies and recently published in the Journal of Management and…

In a viral exchange back in March, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) grilled Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over the unemployment caused by the Fed’s recent rate hiking cycle. “Do you call laying off two million people this year not a ‘sharp’ increase?” the senator asked. “Explain that to the two million families who are going…

Gold prices are near record highs amid global geopolitical tensions and an ongoing crisis in the U.S. banking sector. Gold futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit a record high of $2,072 per ounce on May 4. Spot gold price on the day was also within a few cents of its all-time high of…

Global central bank gold reserves increased by an additional 52 tons in February, representing the eleventh consecutive month of net purchases of the yellow metal, new data show. According to the latest figures from the World Gold Council (WGC), China was the biggest gold buyer in February, acquiring 24.9 tons. The People’s Bank of China…

Global central bank gold reserves increased by an additional 52 tons in February, representing the 11th consecutive month of net purchases of the precious metal, new data show. According to the latest figures from the World Gold Council (WGC), China was the biggest gold buyer in February, acquiring 24.9 tons. The People’s Bank of China…

News Analysis Central banks have their eye on climate change developments but are unequivocal in their understanding that it falls outside their mandate of ensuring stable prices. Nevertheless, central bankers strive to address the roles they think they must play and some of the thorny issues therein, such as independence from government and communications with…

Commentary In 2022, central banks will have purchased the largest amount of gold in recent history. According to the World Gold Council, central bank purchases of gold have reached a level not seen since 1967. The world’s central banks bought 673 metric tons in the first three quarters of 2022, and in the third quarter,…

Commentary Efforts to curb inflation by central banks, particularly the Federal Reserve (Fed), may well trigger a liquidity crisis in the markets. That’s the assessment of University of Bath researchers, which claims that excessive anti-inflationary policies could create a money shortage within this calendar year. Moreover, it shows that central banks can be a destabilizing…