ABSTRACT

The term ‘new economy’ has been in fashion over the past few years and – at the same time – has been widely (mis)used. It has reached almost the same degree and scope of use as the term ‘globalization’, naming many different phenomena. From a macroeconomic perspective the term ‘new economy’ suggests a permanent increase in productivity growth and a reduction in structural unemployment with low inflation. At the same time, greater stability of output growth was often cited with respect to the macroeconomic growth ‘miracle’ in the USA in the 1990s (European Commission, 2000: 19). However, the recent sharp correction in US growth casts some doubts on the hypothesis that higher trend growth goes hand in hand with dampened cyclical movements.