and i would encourage alan blinder and his collaborators to extend their work on the production and role of forecasts in the decision - making of different central banks ; and how the communication of forecasts interacts with the communication of other elements of the policy process. see tucker, p m w, ‘ money and credit : banking and the macroeconomy ’, speech at the monetary policy and the markets conference, 13 december 2007, bank of england quarterly bulletin q1 2008, pp 96 - 106. other bits of central banking finally, and briefly, i would observe that blinder ’ s work on decision - taking processes and structures has so far focused entirely on the setting of interest rates. we have been living through a decade or more in which, at many although not all central banks, other decisions affected the financial landscape and risks to stability. again drawing on his experience as the vice chairman of the fed board and again comparing and contrasting different approaches, i think we would all benefit enormously if alan blinder took his scholarly apparatus and spirit of enquiry into other corners of central banking and how they fit together.

pierre duguay : the bank of canada ’ s perspective on the penny remarks by mr pierre duguay, deputy governor of the bank of canada, to the senate committee on national finance, ottawa, ontario, 26 may 2010. * * * good evening mr. chairman, honourable senators. i ’ m pleased to have the opportunity to appear before you tonight to provide the bank of canada ’ s perspective on the penny. first, let me take a moment to explain the bank ’ s role regarding canada ’ s currency. we are responsible for supplying canadians with bank notes that they can use with confidence. at year - end 2009, there were 1. 8 billion bank notes in circulation, with a total value of $ 55. 5 billion – approximately $ 1, 630 per canadian. the bank of canada is not responsible for coins. decisions on coinage rest with the federal government, in particular, the department of finance, and with the royal canadian mint. however, coins are an essential adjunct of bank notes to complete cash transactions. so, the bank does have an interest in coins, and we welcome your review of the case for keeping or eliminating the penny. i would like to remind you that cash remains very important to canadians, despite the popularity of alternative payment options. surveys by the bank of canada have found that almost three - quarters of canadians pay with cash at least once a week, compared with 64 per cent for debit cards and 36 per cent for credit cards. 1 these surveys show that cash is the preferred method of payment for purchases under $ 25. ( debit cards are preferred for purchases in the $ 25 to $ 100 range, and credit cards are preferred for purchases greater than $ 100. ) the bank ’ s interest in coins can also be viewed in the context of our responsibility for monetary policy, which is anchored in our commitment to achieve our 2 per cent target for inflation. experience has shown that the best way for monetary policy to contribute to economic performance is by keeping inflation low, stable, and predictable. therefore, the bank views the possible elimination of the penny in terms of the potential impact on inflation, and has conducted some preliminary research on this issue. the findings, which have been made available to other researchers, show that any impact on inflation would be insignificant and more likely non - existent. a common concern is that retailers, who often post prices ending in 9 cents, may round prices up to an even number, absent the penny, and that this would be inflationary