The political consequences of slower economic growth

Washington

THE role of economic growth in advanced democracies is not mainly the accumulation of more material goods. By any historical norm, even today's poor are staggeringly wealthy. Economic growth plays a more subtle role. It gives people a sense that they are getting ahead and are in control of their lives. It serves as the social glue that holds us together and counteracts - to some extent - the influences of race, class, religion, ethnicity and geography, which drive us apart.

But what if economic growth can no longer perform this vital function? What if the economy has entered a prolonged period of slow growth that frustrates millions of Americans? What if the glue no longer holds? These questions are already being asked as a result of rising economic inequality. Now, the debate enters a new phase with the release of President Donald Trump's first annual economic report and the more scholarly Report of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA).