A third point I would like to emphasize is we all have to face the reality that during the past decade both monetary and fiscal policies have been eased dramatically and yet they have failed to meet with robust economic growth. There are reasons for it. Let me mention three numbers here.
During the past five years the monetary base expanded at an annual rate of 7.3 percent, the money stock at 3.3 percent, and nominal GDP at 0.4 percent. In contrast to the 1970s and 1980s, when all three indicators grew pari passu, what large differences exist between them in recent years.