Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers is talking about it. So is Paul Krugman. So are other economists. And everyone else is talking about the folks who are talking about it.
The "it" is secular stagnation, which seems to be the New New Thing or the new new normal: a way to describe the persistent state of subpar economic growth plaguing developed nations. Think of it as Japan's lost decade gone global.
The diagnosis? Too much saving and a lack of investment opportunities, according to Harvard University's Summers. And with the funds rate close to zero, the Federal Reserve can't deliver the negative real interest rates he says the economy needs unless it creates higher inflation.