The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that many Canadians shrug at the news that the Toronto Stock Exchange is faring poorly, but that would be a mistake. Guest columnist Bryce Tingle writes that the decline of operating companies on the TSX is not just a problem for Bay Street, but a problem for the whole country. Canada has largely failed to economically keep pace with the rest of the world this century. The past 10 years have been particularly bad, but low productivity has been a problem since the 1990s. The competitive problem of the TSX can be stated simply: Companies do not want to join the exchange. Instead, start-ups increasingly sell themselves to larger competitors. Canada will never be able to equal the depth and volume of American stock exchanges, but it can create a better market for public companies. This would require the TSX and Canadian securities regulators to dramatically reverse course. Any attempt to improve the TSX's competitive fortunes will require removing the pain points for companies considering listing their shares. The biggest advantage Canada has is that we can cater to smaller companies. We need a public market in which smaller issuers scaling themselves up will not get lost.