Abstract
Since the depths of the financial crisis in 2008–2009, most financial indicators have stabilized. However, the real parts of the economies in the industrialized world continue to lag. In this 2013 speech, I suggested that an older idea of “secular stagnation” may help explain the disappointing recent economic performance.
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*Lawrence H. Summers is the Charles W. Eliot University Professor and President Emeritus at Harvard University. He served as the 71st Secretary of the Treasury for President Clinton and the Director of the National Economic Council for President Obama. From the Editors: The 2013 Jacques Polak Annual Research Conference culminated on November 8, 2013 with a panel on “Policy Responses to Crises.” The panel, hosted by Economic Counsellor and Director of Research Olivier Blanchard, featured a very distinguished group of panelists: Ben Bernanke, Stanley Fischer, Kenneth Rogoff, and Lawrence H. Summers. In his remarks, Larry Summers articulated for the first time the view that the United States may have entered a period of “Secular Stagnation.” His speech ignited a vibrant policy debate, to which Summers himself contributed extensively (see Summers (2014a) and (2014b)). Because of its impact, we felt Summers’ original remarks belonged to this special issue of the Conference and decided to publish them—with minimal edits—in the Policy Corner.
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Summers, L. Have we Entered an Age of Secular Stagnation? IMF Fourteenth Annual Research Conference in Honor of Stanley Fischer, Washington, DC. IMF Econ Rev 63, 277–280 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1057/imfer.2015.6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/imfer.2015.6