Martin Wolf in the FT today strikes a  different direction from those secular stagnaters shepherded by Larry Summers towards the cliff-edge of endless doom. Larry Summers devised and popularised the term, “secular stagnation”. He has a lot to answer for. His misjudgements, poor advice to the Obama administration, and flawed analysis have been catastrophic for the global economy. Given his record, he should be silenced or ignored, and barred from shepherding anyone, including economists and other naifs, in any direction (for more on his grave weaknesses see this Forbes article).

Secular stagnation within a deflationary context, let us be clear, is the outcome of deliberate policy choices. It has not come about by accident. It has not come about for lack of economic understanding, learning or analysis. It has not come about for lack of economic tools – both fiscal and monetary, or indeed for lack of human agency. Instead secular stagnation is the deliberate outcome of policy choices made by those dominant in the world’s most powerful policy-making institutions, including the IMF. Continue reading →