. but the point i want to stress now is that an efficient financial system is crucial for achieving sustained economic growth and prosperity in canada. efficiency and macroeconomic policies let's examine how canada's macroeconomic policies support efficiency. as a central banker, i will start with a brief look at monetary policy ; in particular, our policy of inflation targeting. as you may know, last month the bank and the federal government renewed our joint inflation - targeting agreement for another five years, until the end of 2011. since canada adopted inflation targeting, we have seen a number of important economic benefits. inflation has been lower and more stable, and inflation expectations have become well anchored on the 2 per cent target, not just in the short term, but also in the long term. with this low and stable inflation, along with other important policy improvements, the peaks and valleys of the business cycle have become less pronounced, and the economy has shown increased flexibility in adjusting to various types of shocks. because consumers and businesses have greater certainty about the future purchasing power of their savings and income, borrowers pay a much smaller premium to compensate investors for inflation risk. in short, we have seen lower costs for borrowers, more predictable returns for investors, and a more efficient allocation of resources. but we should always be looking to see if there are ways to make good performance even better. this is why the bank is launching a concerted research program to see if our already very successful inflation - targeting framework can be improved. in particular, we want to find answers to two questions. first, what would be the costs and benefits of an inflation target lower than 2 per cent? second, what available at : http : / / www. bankofcanada. ca / en / fsr / index. html would be the costs and benefits of replacing the current inflation target with a longer - term price - level target? we hope to see intensive research on these issues, conducted both inside and outside the bank, over the next three years. this would give the bank and the government of canada enough time to examine the results and take them into account before the next renewal of our agreement in 2011. canada's fiscal policies have been, and will continue to be, important in supporting the efficiency of markets. governments, both federal and provincial, have worked hard to achieve fiscal balance and are now working to further reduce their ratios of public debt to gdp. continued progress on this front will support efficiency by allowing investors to remain confident

financial goal and presents information on coverdell education savings accounts, u. s. savings bonds, and qualified tuition programs as types of savings vehicles for achieving that goal. programs on estate planning and retirement are offered, as well as seminars on financial planning and advanced investment. many of these programs are geared to those employees who have been in the workforce for many years. however, understanding that many of our young people don ’ t receive formal course work in financial matters, we designed a program that is more meaningful to new professionals. this program, which is designed for those young people just entering the workforce, discusses the importance of starting to save at a young age, homeownership, advanced education, and avoiding debt. workplace education benefits both the employer and employee. for the employee, more knowledge, one hopes, will result in better financial decisions and overall financial well - being. employees who are taking maximum advantage of the benefits available to them will more likely have greater job satisfaction, which may result in lower turnover. for the employer, research studies have shown that employees who are financially healthy are more productive. they are absent less often, spend less time at the workplace dealing with financial crises, and earn higher job performance ratings. we commend the commission for recognizing workplace education as an integral component in formulating a national financial education strategy.