By: Kiyoko Fujimura

Usually when the Bank of Canada has a “rate decision day” market experts are biting their nails because it’s not exceedingly clear what Mark Carney’s going to do. But today’s decision to leave the overnight target rate at 1 per cent didn’t even make the Globe and Mail’s homepage. Why? Because it was entirely expected.

Unless you’ve decided to bury your head in the sand in a cave in the middle of the desert, then you know that the world economy is in rough shape. Raising rates discourages the economy and, despite the fact that Canada’s not doing too badly, in this interconnected global economy no one wants to discourage businesses from accessing capital. Read more

By Kiyoko Fujimura

About every month and a half, the Bank of Canada has the opportunity to change the key benchmark interest rate for the Canadian economy. And, while it may seem somewhat boring that Mark Carney has left it where it is for the past ten consecutive opportunities, it’s really not.

The last time rates rose was in September 2010. This was before the real gravity of Europe’s economic troubles were known and when the US was still potentially on its way to recovery.

But as the US struggles to find its footing and even the strong European economies, Germany and France, face a potential downgrade to their bonds by Standard & Poor’s — the international economy is scary, uncharted territory.

So what does that mean for Canadians? And, in particular, what does it mean for the housing market?

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