Second, certain important structural factors suggest that, over the longer term, world economic growth will be slower than in the past. One important reason is demographics: aging populations in advanced and some emerging economies.
Another is the maturing growth of emerging economies such as China: it is probably impossible for China to sustain economic growth at the double-digit rates of the 2000s – although its growth rate is still expected to stabilize at an enviable annual pace of 7 per cent for the foreseeable future. Both sets of factors suggest lower global economic growth than before the crisis.