The Growth Deficit

During the 1980s and 1990s, European economies went through a period of slowing economic growth and high unemployment, what some economists described as “secular decline.” On the other side of the Atlantic, the United States enjoyed a robust recovery during those years by reducing taxes, eliminating regulations on business, and tightening monetary policy.

Now, after two decades of subpar growth, the question is whether or not the American economy has entered into its own era of secular decl...