Differences in the use of bank and retail credit cards in the U.S.A.

Data from the 1989 Survey of Consumer Finances¹ were analysed to find factors related to credit card use in U.S. households. Factors associated with the probability of using only retail cards were being a female-headed household, being older and being in a blue collar occupation. The use of bank cards only was associated with male heads of households, renting and a negative attitude toward credit. The use of both retail and bank cards was associated with a positive attitude toward credit, being in a professional or managerial occupation and home ownership. The results provide insight into credit card use and should help target educational efforts to those most likely to experience debt problems related to extensive use of credit cards.     

Why Is Canada's Price Level So Predictable?

This paper draws attention to the fact that the price level in Canada—which is an inflation targeter—has strayed little from the path it would have taken had inflation never wandered off the 2% target since its introduction and has tended to revert to that path after temporary deviations. Econometric analysis using Bayesian estimation suggests that a low probability can be assigned to explaining this behavior by mutually offsetting shocks. More plausible is the assumption that inflation expectations and interest rates are determined in a way that is consistent with an element of price‐level‐path targeting.