Washington

IT'S no secret that although the US economy is near "full employment" (September's jobless rate: 5.1 per cent), its rate of growth of about 2 per cent annually has been maddeningly weak. Since World War II, growth has averaged 3 per cent to 4 per cent. In an US$18 trillion economy, these apparently small differences quickly add up to hundreds of billions of lost income. (Think: one per cent of US$18 trillion is US$180 billion.) The implications of slow growth are enormous. It's harder for families to raise living standards and for governments to pay their bills.

Can we increase growth? Or will mediocre performance plague us indefinitely?