securities transfer act. the efficiency of our financial markets would be improved if provincial and territorial governments would proceed with legislation to replace the current patchwork of legal rules in this area and to provide a sounder legal basis for the holding and transfer of rights in securities that are held in book - entry form. this is just one example of encouraging initiatives that are under way. at the bank of canada, we will continue to contribute to these efforts by conducting research and promoting discussion on ways to improve the functioning of our financial institutions and markets and to enhance the safety and soundness of canada's financial system. we share this research with regulators, market participants, and the public. our financial system review, published twice a year, is part of that effort. conclusion let me now conclude. as i noted at the beginning, there are powerful global economic forces at work, and economies everywhere need to adjust. businesses in ottawa, and in the rest of canada, are making adjustments to meet these challenges and to take advantage of emerging opportunities. at the bank of canada, we will continue to monitor these global forces closely and to assess their impact. we will continue to conduct monetary policy with the aim of keeping inflation close to our target and the economy operating at its full potential. we will maintain our efforts to promote a safe and efficient financial system. and, as always, we will work to enhance the confidence of canadians in the value of their money and the stability of their economy. in this way, we will do our part to facilitate the adjustments that the canadian economy is making to changes in the global economy.

saskatchewan – oil prices and food. if you look closely, you will notice that both of the real - price series are relatively stable, unlike the nominal - price series, which have risen sharply over the past 40 years, reflecting the effects of generalized price inflation. the long - run price stability of most commodities, subject to subtle differences in trend, should not come as a surprise. given sufficient time, consumers and producers adjust to changing market conditions. persistent price increases encourage consumers to economize on the use of more expensive commodities and move to alternative goods. at the same time, producers find it profitable to tap new and often more expensive sources of supply, and to develop new technologies to assist them. investment and innovation also allow producers to bring new products to market, facilitating the process of economization and substitution. all of this takes considerable time, however. while the supply responses might be shorter in some sectors such as agriculture, for major energy projects the gestation period can be as long as 10 or 15 years. eventually, though, demand and supply adjust – in many cases taking prices back to where they started. this is what economists often refer to as “ mean reversion. ” what about the significant price increases we ’ ve seen since 2002? although mean reversion is frequently observed in the very long run, commodity prices can also experience large and persistent swings over 5 -, 10 - and even 20 - year periods. price increases are usually followed by price declines, and vice versa, but the timing of these reversals is highly uncertain. 3 see d. coletti, “ the long - run behaviour of key canadian non - energy commodity prices : 1900 – 91, ” bank of canada review ( winter 1992 – 1993 : 47 – 56 ). for convenience and by convention, world commodity prices are usually quoted in u. s. dollars. this means that whenever the foreign exchange value of the u. s. dollar changes, commodity prices usually change too. estimates from the international monetary fund ( p. cashin, c. j. mcdermott and a. scott, “ the myth of comoving commodity prices, ” imf working paper, wp / 99 / 169, 1999 ) suggest that the average length of a slump in oil prices is about 50 months, while oil - price booms typically last just over 20 weeks. however, there is obviously a great deal of variance around these averages. bis central bankers ’ speeches the magnitude and timing of commodity price