As a matter of fact, the crisis failed to validate the decoupling hypothesis, as all EMEs were affected, admittedly to different extents. What the crisis, in fact, reinforced is that the economic prospects of advanced economies and EMEs are interlinked through trade, finance and confidence channels. 5. Let me now move on to specific issues.
In Chapter 4, I discuss a transition to a period of slower growth and possibly higher inflation, a transition that in all likelihood we will make at some point. I interpret this as part of the continuing adjustment to the acceleration in productivity growth and part of the convergence to sustainable utilization and inflation rates.