The long climbSource: www.economist.comst Oct, 2009 (Adapted)
The world economy is fitfully getting back to normal, but it
will be a "new normal". This phrase has caught on, even if people
disagree about what it means. In the new normal, as defined by Pimco´s
CEO, Mohamed El-Erian, growth will be subdued and unemployment will
remain high. "The banking system will be a shadow of its former self,"
and the securitization markets, which buy and sell marketable bundles of
debt, will presumably be a shadow of a shadow. Finance will be costlier
and investment weak, so the stock of physical capital, on which
prosperity depends, will erode. The crisis invited a
forceful government entry into several of capitalism's inner sanctums,
such as banking, American carmaking and the commercial-paper market. Mr
El-Erian worries that the state may overstay its welcome. In addition,
national exchequers may start to feel some measure of the fiscal strain
now hobbling California. America's Treasury, in particular, must
demonstrate that it is still a "responsible shepherd of other countries'
savings."In paragraph 1, finance is referred to as
a) remaining low throughout the crisis.
b) having been affected by the crisis.
c) having eroded throughout the process.
d) likely to be considered in a future analysis.
e) likely not to be hit by this scenario.