Imagine that you are the leader of Bank of Canada's economic policy advisory board. Explain why expansionary and contractionary monetary policy strategies would be implemented.

Reflections on a classic: A Monetary History of the United States, 1867 to 1960, by Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz, is a classic study of monetary policy and was published in 1963. Read the interview with Anna Schwartz available at www.minneapolisfed.org/pubs/region/93-09/int939.cfm, and explain what you think was the main contribution of this book. (Other interesting interviews with famous macroeconomists are gathered at http://minneapolisfed.org /pubs/region.)  

Describe a situation where a central bank would want to implement contractionary monetary policy.

we know that one of the advantages of monetary policy is its speed and flexibility, discuss some of its limitations

Explain the qualitative or selective instruments of monetary policy.

How could the approval of international banking facilities (IBFs) by the Fed in 1981 have reduced employment in the banking industry in Europe?

Imagine that you are the leader of Bank of Canada's economic policy advisory board. Explain why expansionary and contractionary monetary policy strategies would be implemented.

Between 1950 and 1975, the average annual rate of change in the money supply was slightly less than 4 percent. Has the Fed expanded the money supply more (or less) rapidly than this 4 percent long-term rate during the past 12 months? The past 24 months? Is the Fed's current monetary policy restrictive or expansionary? Explain.

Briefly outline two reasons for a central bank choosing to purse a contractionary monetary policy, and indicate whether you consider that these apply widely at the present time.

Suppose that the Fed want to lower the inflation rate. Discuss what policy instruments the Fed can use besides raising interest on reserves.