El-Erian has popularized the phrase “new normal” to describe how growth will be depressed by consumer retrenchment and tighter financial regulation. Pimco, based in Newport Beach, California, runs the world’s biggest bond fund.
He also has said governments and central banks haven’t detected the “ongoing paradigm shift” in their economies that will require remedies beyond stimulus programs. Among the fault lines he spots are strained balanced sheets, persistently high unemployment and a misunderstanding of financial markets.