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Short-Run Effects of Lower Productivity Growth: A Twist on the Secular Stagnation Hypothesis

Author

Listed:
  • Olivier Blanchard

    (Peterson Institute for International Economics)

  • Guido Lorenzoni

    (Northwestern University)

  • Jean Paul L'Huillier

    (Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance)

Abstract
Despite interest rates being very close to zero, US GDP growth has been anemic in the last four years largely due to lower optimism about the future, more speci?cally to downward revisions in growth forecasts, rather than legacies of the past. Put simply, demand is temporarily weak because people are adjusting to a less bright future. The authors suggest that downward revisions of productivity growth may have decreased demand by 0.5 to 1.0 percent a year since 2012. This explanation, if correct, has important implications for policy and forecasts. It may weaken the case for secular stagnation, as it suggests that the need for very low interest rates to sustain demand may be partly temporary. It also implies that, to the extent that investors in ?nancial markets have not fully taken this undershooting into account, the current yield curve may underestimate the strength of future demand and the need for higher interest rates in the future. The authors' hypothesis is not an alternative to the secular stagnation hypothesis but a twist on it. They do not question that interest rates will probably be lower in the future than they were in the past but argue that, for a while, they may be undershooting their long-run value.

Suggested Citation

  • Olivier Blanchard & Guido Lorenzoni & Jean Paul L'Huillier, 2017. "Short-Run Effects of Lower Productivity Growth: A Twist on the Secular Stagnation Hypothesis," Policy Briefs PB17-6, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:iie:pbrief:pb17-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Olivier J. Blanchard & Jean-Paul L'Huillier & Guido Lorenzoni, 2013. "News, Noise, and Fluctuations: An Empirical Exploration," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(7), pages 3045-3070, December.
    2. Congressional Budget Office, 2014. "Revisions to CBO's Projection of Potential Output Since 2007," Reports 45150, Congressional Budget Office.
    3. Congressional Budget Office, 2014. "Revisions to CBO's Projection of Potential Output Since 2007," Reports 45150, Congressional Budget Office.
    4. Congressional Budget Office, 2014. "Revisions to CBO's Projection of Potential Output Since 2007," Reports 45150, Congressional Budget Office.
    5. Congressional Budget Office, 2014. "Revisions to CBO's Projection of Potential Output Since 2007," Reports 45150, Congressional Budget Office.
    6. Michael Bruno & Jeffrey D. Sachs, 1985. "Economics of Worldwide Stagflation," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number brun85-1.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jeff Mollins & Pierre St-Amant, 2018. "The Productivity Slowdown in Canada: an ICT Phenomenon?," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 35, pages 95-112, Fall.
    2. Claude Bismut & Ismael Ramajo, 2019. "Nominal and real interest rates in OECD countries," CEE-M Working Papers hal-02355139, CEE-M, Universtiy of Montpellier, CNRS, INRA, Montpellier SupAgro.
    3. Di Bella, Gabriel & Grigoli, Francesco, 2019. "Optimism, pessimism, and short-term fluctuations," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 79-96.
    4. David Byrne & Stephen D. Oliner & Daniel E. Sichel, 2017. "Prices of high-tech products, mismeasurement, and the pace of innovation," Business Economics, Palgrave Macmillan;National Association for Business Economics, vol. 52(2), pages 103-113, April.
    5. John G. Fernald & Robert E. Hall & James H. Stock & Mark W. Watson, 2017. "The Disappointing Recovery of Output after 2009," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 48(1 (Spring), pages 1-81.
    6. Gianluca Benigno & Luca Fornaro, 2018. "Stagnation Traps," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 85(3), pages 1425-1470.
    7. Olivier Coibion & Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Mauricio Ulate, 2018. "The Cyclical Sensitivity in Estimates of Potential Output," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 49(2 (Fall)), pages 343-441.
    8. Paul Beaudry & Tim Willems, 2022. "On the Macroeconomic Consequences of Over-Optimism," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 38-59, January.
    9. James Hebden & J. David López-Salido, 2018. "From Taylor's Rule to Bernanke's Temporary Price Level Targeting," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2018-051, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    10. Crafts, Nicholas & Mills, Terence C., 2017. "Trend TFP Growth in the United States: Forecasts versus Outcomes," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 329, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    11. Claude Bismut & Ismael Ramajo, 2019. "Nominal and real interest rates in OECD countries," Working Papers hal-02355139, HAL.
    12. Daragh Clancy & Lorenzo Ricci, 2022. "Economic sentiments and international risk sharing," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 169, pages 208-229.
    13. Daragh Clancy & Lorenzo Ricci, 2019. "Loss aversion, economic sentiments and international consumption smoothing," Working Papers 35, European Stability Mechanism.
    14. Mr. Jiaqian Chen & Lucyna Gornicka, 2020. "Measuring Output Gap: Is It Worth Your Time?," IMF Working Papers 2020/024, International Monetary Fund.
    15. Claudio Borio, 2017. "Secular stagnation or financial cycle drag?," Business Economics, Palgrave Macmillan;National Association for Business Economics, vol. 52(2), pages 87-98, April.
    16. Tang, Jianmin & Wang, Weimin, 2020. "Technological frontier, technical efficiency and the post-2000 productivity slowdown in Canada," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 12-25.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

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