“OVER the long term, the United States economy has been growing at its slowest rate since the Great Depression. Most other major developed countries have also experienced unusually slow growth over the last 10 years.”

“The American economy’s reported 2.8 percent growth in the fourth quarter, at an annual rate, was seen as mildly encouraging. But it meant that over the previous 10 years, the economy had grown at a compound annual rate of just 1.7 percent. Until the current cycle, there had been no similar prolonged period of slow growth since the Depression.”

“The International Monetary Fund’s latest forecasts indicate that there is not likely to be a pickup in growth anytime soon, either in the United States or other large industrialized countries.”

Read the full story here.