Now, I am about to conclude my discussion of demographic trends, balance-sheet adjustment, and the influence of information and communication technology, so before I move on to the next part, I would like to summarize where I think we are.
First of all, a period of low trend growth is probably here to stay for some time, together with rigidities that may become more entrenched. It is a problematic combination of factors that could reinforce each other. Secondly, in such a state, economies would be more vulnerable to occasional downward shocks. That could exacerbate inefficiencies.