Dodge reveals lessons learned in final speech

"Both individuals and firms must always be prepared to adjust quickly to changing global economic circumstances," Dodge said. "The world will evolve in ways that we cannot predict, so we must be prepared to deal with change and seize new opportunities as they arise."

"Perhaps even more importantly, we should not cling to activities that are no longer economically justified, however difficult and painful adjustment may be," he added. "Not adjusting is not an option."

The governor had also learned the importance of achieving and maintaining sustainable levels of public debt: "Canadians paid a very real price in the 1990s to control the growth of public debt, and have wisely used the favourable conditions of the past decade to bring down the ratio of public debt to GDP."

The most important contribution a central bank could make to the economy was, he said, to maintain confidence in the future value of money: "In the 1970s, we all witnessed the economic and social instability caused by high and volatile inflation. In the 1980s, we paid the price of recession to get inflation under control," he said.

To read the speech, click here