By the metric of public sector deficits, fiscal policy also appears to have been disciplined prior to the crisis. Therefore, another important lesson of the Asian crisis is that sound macroeconomic policies alone do not preclude crises. This experience also suggests that sound macroeconomic policy must be complemented by sound financial practices, effective bank supervision, and effective corporate governance.
But clearly, Canada and the United States are a long way from integrating their labour markets, and further integration of markets for goods and services is proving difficult.