*  *  *  The conduct of monetary policy when you live next door to a large neighbour Both in Canada and elsewhere, much ink has been spilled over the past year on the pros and cons of different exchange rate regimes and the implications for monetary policy.
Even when they communicated, efforts would be made to be as vague as possible: consider for example the statement of Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the US Federal Reserve between 1987 and 2006 to Congress in 1987: “If I turn out to be particularly clear, you’ve probably misunderstood what I said.”  But things have evolved  meaningfully over time, and nowadays, most central banks have substantially stepped up communication of their policies, realizing that this could help to build confidence and understanding and actually facilitate policy effectiveness.