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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 105

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 29, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 105 - Sep/29/22
Mr. Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay (Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, BQ)
  • Sep/29/22 5:04:20 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his intervention and for his speech. Since he taught economics at two CEGEPs, I would like to ask him something. We are familiar with the incendiary declarations that the Leader of the Opposition made regarding the central bank, before he became leader of his party. We know that the central bank is often a target. In the 20th century, however, John Maynard Keynes started talking about the importance of these banks. He also suggested that inflation was not primarily a monetary phenomenon. If I were to ask my dear colleague and friend to give our Conservative Party colleagues a quick economics lesson on central banks, what would he say, in a nutshell?
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Context: House Hansard - 105 - Sep/29/22
Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie
  • Sep/29/22 5:05:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague and friend for the question, although when he mentioned the second CEGEP, I realized he was talking about UQAM. That is a serious mistake. I would have him know that the economics department at UQAM does good work. Keynes' work certainly contributed to the establishment and creation of the first central banks and highlighted their importance. The other thing that came out of his work is the famous equation for the quantity theory of money. It does not happen automatically and instantaneously. It depends on several other factors. Keynes particularly drew attention to the perceptions or psychology of people and economic players in the phenomenon of inflation. For example, the U.S. dollar is the global reserve currency. If a lot of money is printed, prices will rise much more slowly than in an economy where the currency is weaker, where foreign investors have less confidence in their currency. If they deviate slightly from established practice, prices can soar because confidence is lost more quickly in those economies. The central bank plays an important role, and it is important to respect its autonomy.
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