Policymakers rose to the occasion with a “swift, wide-ranging and balanced combination of policies,” said a trio of economists commissioned to review the central bank’s handling of the pandemic. The reviewers said the central bank could have done a better job explaining its policies and offered governor Tiff Macklem suggestions on how he could be more transparent. (The Logic)   

Talking point: The review was based on the Bank of Canada’s own assessment, which determined, among other things, that the controversial decision to create hundreds of millions of dollars to buy government bonds kept borrowing costs low. The central bank also said there was little evidence the policy, called quantitative easing, or QE, contributed to inflation. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre thinks otherwise and has threatened to fire Macklem if he wins the next election. Calling the Bank of Canada a “learning institution,” Macklem and his deputies said the lessons of COVID-19 “will sharpen the bank’s response to the next crisis.”