Editor's note

It seems a million years ago, but in January 2008 the author attended a conference about the soaring dollar and the stress it was putting on exporters. Cut red tape, eliminate barriers to the movement of goods, labor and capital, invest in infrastructure and smarten up on taxes. Improve human capital through better education and help make their companies more nimble so they can better withstand changing conditions. The global financial crisis has handed governments, especially solvent ones like Canada's, a perfect opportunity to act. The real disappointment of the recent federal budget was that it had no big goals.