Why did inflation fall from multi-decade highs last summer to within the Bank of Canada’s target range last month? It seems like a simple question, but as with most things in economics, the answer is hotly contested. 

Catch up: The textbook Econ 101 story is that central banks reduce inflation by raising interest rates, which reduces demand in the economy through some combination of job losses, frozen or lower wages, and a pullback in consumer spending. 

A slowdown in Canada’s labour market has sent the unemployment rate up… and could bring inflation down. 

Driving the news: New data shows job growth flatlining in July. But if you consider that Canada’s population grew by 81,900 in the same time period, it means labour markets are softening even more significantly under the surface, according to RBC Economics. 

Is your ‘type’ an accomplished tech professional with a six-figure salary? Then you might have to battle it out with Canada’s immigration office. 

What happened: Canada is moving away from its points-based system for immigrant selection to pursue people with work experience in the tech sector, per The Globe and Mail. 

A new train system launching today in Montreal is set to reshape how people get around the city—and could become a proof of concept for a new way of building infrastructure elsewhere in the country. 

Catch up: The first phase of the Réseau Express Métropolitain (REM) will whisk riders from the suburb of Brossard to Montreal’s central station—a trip that takes up to 40 minutes in rush hour traffic—in just 18 minutes. 

Inflation is cooling across the Western world, but don’t grab your party hats just yet. 

Driving the news: Over the last month, the Bank of Canada, US Federal Reserve, and European Central Bank (ECB) each raised their respective key interest rates by 0.25 of a percentage point, bringing the cost of borrowing in Western markets to 22-year highs. 

According to a new TD Economics report, Canada's historic population growth risks exacerbating the country’s biggest problem areas.

What happened: With Canada on track to welcome over one million permanent and temporary residents in 2023—between immigrants, students, temporary workers, and refugees—economists from a Big Five bank are urging the feds to pump the brakes.

Get ready to cross some more squares off your extreme weather bingo card, because El Niño is here. 

Driving the news: El Niño—a weather phenomenon that shifts temperatures and intensifies climate conditions—is underway and likely to become unusually strong later in the year. 

Columbia Business School professor and economist Brett House joined us on Free Lunch this week to explain what was behind the Bank of Canada’s latest decision to raise interest rates, and how they’re thinking about the economic picture moving forward.

Temperatures are still hot, but at least inflation is cooling. 

What happened: Canada's annual inflation rate dropped to a 27-month low of 2.8% in June, closing in on the Bank of Canada’s headline inflation target of 2%. The bank still expects that closing the gap could take another two years, or in other words, by mid-2025.  

If you ask US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the debt problems facing low-income countries are a problem for the global economy. 

What happened: The world’s wealthiest countries are reportedly dragging their feet on restructuring the mounting debt load they’re owed by low-income countries, per Reuters.