Andrew Sentance, whose term on the Monetary Policy Committee expired last year, described "the current phase of disappointing growth and volatility" as "the new normal", at the Institute of Economic Affairs' annual conference on Thursday.
His comments came as another survey pointed to a slow recovery in the nation's fortunes this year and the European Commission held its growth forecast for the UK in 2012 steady at 0.6pc, while downgrading much of Europe.
Mr Sentance argued that in 2007 Britain came to the end of its second period of "long expansion" since the Second World War and, like in the 1970s, is in the midst of nine years in which average annual growth will be less than 1pc. "I hope that a more sustained growth dynamic will emerge in the second half of the decade," he said.
"The conditions which supported the period of growth which ended with the financial crisis are not set to return quickly. There are parallels with the disappointing growth the 1970s and early 1980s."
The emerging economies will act as a drag on recovery in the West, he added. "Strong growth in Asia is putting pressure on commodities, and oil in particular, and is one of the reasons we're finding growth so difficult to achieve," he said. (AtW's comment: b0llox - money printing in the West that allows bankers to loan it for 0% and put into commodities is what driving inflation)
Source: Weak growth is the 'new normal', Andrew Sentance warns - Telegraph
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