In the eyes of many observers, this was caused primarily by the innovations in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. Together with the rapid pace of growth in the 1995-2000 period, it prompted some economists to suggest that the US economy was ready to pursue a new path of rapid growth. You will remember when the idea of a ‘new economy’ emerged.
The rate of growth of GDP in the euro area in the second half of the 1990s was significantly lower than in the US. Nonetheless, advocates of the new economy, i.e. believers in the radical implications that the new technologies have for potential growth, suggested that similar developments on this side of the Atlantic were likely to take place.