| Summary/Abstract |
The World Bank issued a report in January warning that the European economy is slipping toward “secular stagnation,” a prolonged period of very low inflation and very low growth. Should it come to pass, this development will have a profound impact on all aspects of the region. It will lower opportunities for each successive generation while at the same time increasing pressure on European governments to curtail the welfare state. It will make it easy for populist political movements (and political entrepreneurs) to rally opposition to traditional political parties, governing elites, and national constitutional arrangements.
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