GRANTHAM: Here Are The Basic Forces That Will Send Growth To Near-Zero For Decades

"Jeremy Grantham recently released his quarterly letter to GMO clients.

Titled On The Road To Zero Growth, the note was pretty depressing.

Grantham sees real US GDP growth trending at 0.9 percent through 2030, then falling to 0.4 percent from 2030 to 2050.

"Someday, when the debt is repaid and housing is normal and Europe has settled down, most business people seem to expect a recovery back to America’s old 3.4% a year growth trend, or at least something close," he wrote. "They should not hold their breath.
"A declining growth trend is inevitable and permanent and is caused by some pretty basic forces."
Those basic forces include unfavorable demographic trends, decelerating productivity growth, tightening resource constraints, and rising environmental costs.
These are trends that have been developing for years. However, they have gone unnoticed thanks to the tech, housing, and financial booms and busts of the last ten or so years..."

at  http://www.businessinsider.com/grantham-on-the-road-to-zero-growth-2012-11?op=1#ixzz2DGeZgp9X