Second, with companies sitting on so much cash or devoting it exclusively to financial engineering, the unleashing of global growth does not need a "big bang" in terms of policies. A small bang would probably prove sufficient to unleash faster global recovery, with the private sector doing much of the heavy lifting by using its strong balance sheets to expand current and future output. The resulting upside would be turbocharged by firm- and sector-specific innovations that could deliver economy-wide benefits.
The economic officials from around the world who attended the meetings can take comfort in the greater collective understanding both of the risks facing the global economy and of the better set of policies needed to address those challenges. What they don't have, however, is enough of a durable win-win action plan to serve as a catalyst for reluctant politicians at home.
Sadly, the required policy response may only come with a further worsening of an already mediocre outlook for growth as well as deteriorating prospects for genuine financial stability. In the meantime, both excessive political dysfunction and alarming levels of inequality will remain high as the global economy languishes in a frustrating state of low growth, accompanied by mounting risk of further declines in economic potential.
Mohamed El-Erian is chief economic advisor at Allianz SE.