Media advisory - A New Information Tool for the Economy

MONTREAL, June 15 /CNW Telbec/ - A new information tool for the economy is being made available to journalists today. It includes podcasts and Web events on stories in the news, and features personalities from the world of business and CIRANO analysts, in particular Michel Magnan, Claude Montmarquette, and Marcel Boyer, as well as invited CIRANO fellows, including Claude Castonguay and Robert Amzallag.

This portal also contains interactive Web applications. For example, one of these applications will let users calculate their income replacement rate (in percent or dollar amounts) in retirement. Another allows the events associated with the financial crisis of January 2008 to February 2010 to be visualized. The portal also includes a section with data and analyses covering various aspects of both Quebec's economy and its government policies, as well as a number of social issues such as education, healthcare, energy, and user fees.

According to Claude Montmarquette, President and Chief Executive Officer of CIRANO: "This new tool will meet a growing need for information about the economy. It provides content that will prove useful both to those who wish to learn more about the economy and to experts."

This portal, which we call iCIRANO, is accessible at: http://www.cirano.qc.ca

About CIRANO

The Center for Interuniversity Research and Analysis on Organizations (CIRANO) is an independent, non-profit organization with a dual mission of fostering research and promoting liaisons and the transfer of state-of-the-art knowledge. Bringing together over 100 professor-researchers, CIRANO focusses its activities on five principal areas of research: public policies, experimental economics, finance, risk, and sustainable development. Thanks to its high level of expertise in these fields, CIRANO is a key institution for any firm or organization, whether private or public, that seeks to find innovative ways to improve the efficiency of its activities.

For further information: Mathieu Laberge, economist and project director at CIRANO, 514 282-7630, Office: 514 985-4000, extension 3110, or e-mail: [email protected]