For the first time we created a supervisory database of this nature, which gave Reserve Bank a comprehensive view of the banking system’s exposure to a large borrower and how the exposure to the same borrower was classified differently by different banks.
In my view, the most important reasons are that the distortions arising from high inflation were more severe in Canada and that the adjustments to globalization and technological change were slow in coming. As a result, Canada had to do more and do it faster. The short-run disruptions associated with the economic restructuring have been significant.