…what if the world we\u2019ve been living in for the past five years is the new normal? What if depression-like conditions are on track to persist, not for another year or two, but for decades?<\/p>\n
You might imagine that speculations along these lines are the province of a radical fringe. And they are indeed radical; but fringe, not so much. A number of economists have been flirting with such thoughts for a while. And now they\u2019ve moved into the mainstream. In fact, the case for \u201csecular stagnation\u201d\u009d \u201d\u201d a persistent state in which a depressed economy is the norm, with episodes of full employment few and far between \u201d\u201d was made forcefully recently at the most ultrarespectable of venues, the I.M.F.\u2019s big annual research conference. And the person making that case was none other than Larry Summers. Yes, that Larry Summers.<\/p>\n
And if Mr. Summers is right, everything respectable people have been saying about economic policy is wrong, and will keep being wrong for a long time.<\/p>\n