First, they were trapped in a vicious circle of low income, low savings and low investment, leading to low productivity and low growth.

Low investment and a deteriorating primary education system? Not to worry.

Unsurprisingly, investment in renewable energy has fallen to a four year low.

Because investment is so low, net capital exports from Germany are nearly 4 of GDP.

As long as interest rates remain low, there is no downward pressure on public investment.

Thanks to decades of low investment in statistical capacity, no one trusts the Greek government s figures.

When countries suffer from low investment demand, freeing up capital inflows does not do much good.

Rather than spurring investment in plant and equipment, low interest rates inflated a real estate bubble.

An accelerated public investment program that avoids low return projects is not out of the question.

This could be achieved by monetary and fiscal policy low interest rates and large state investment programs.

China s investment in US government securities and other sovereign debt will continue to yield extremely low returns.

But European companies remain hesitant, despite low interest rates, keeping private investment well below its previous peak.

In Brazil, low savings and various institutional impediments keep interest rates high and investment low, while the educational system does not serve significant parts of the population well.

The country s investment rate now stands at more than 50 a clear reflection of China s low capital efficiency.

The low costs of finance facilitated global investment, thereby contributing to the acceleration of global growth in 2004.

At the same time, since returns to capital are kept low by high wages, very little investment occurs. The excess of savings over investment flows abroad as capital exports.

As the accumulation and deepening of capital accelerate growth, they perpetuate the low efficiency investment pattern and stimulate overproduction.

We believe that the best investment in our collective future is to scale up the green, low carbon economy. It is an investment with enormous potential for prosperity and profit.

An investment grade rating reflects the credit rating agencies' belief that the probability of payment of the bond is high and the financial risk associated with the investment is low.

On the other hand, US taxes are chronically too low to support the level of government investment that is needed.

Third, international private investment flows are essential. It is the private sector that will finance most low carbon, sustainable growth.

One factor limiting Brazil s prospects is its low productivity, which can be explained partly by an anemic investment rate of 18 of GDP low for Latin America and paltry compared to East Asia.

The good news is that growing discipline seems to be pushing out low return investment. And there is every reason to believe that investment will remain high as the economy s capital base expands.

When the shopping center died, the city restored the site's original wetlands, creating lakefront property, which then attracted private investment, the first private investment to this very low income neighborhood in over 40 years.

The September summit should endorse national and international measures to direct foreign investment to low income countries through such measures as investment guarantee schemes, tax and other incentives, revised risk rating and similar arrangements.

North South flows are already extremely low, with the southern and eastern Mediterranean countries receiving only 3 of global foreign direct investment.

The problem is that what really ails the German economy is low domestic consumption and investment, which still need to be addressed.

This apparent paradox is explained by a combination of high corporate saving and low levels of residential and non residential fixed investment.

Despite the rise of private education in many low income countries, investment opportunities in public private models and private education remain limited.

To understand what is going on, we need a different explanation of what keeps investment and growth low in most poor nations.

That, plus ongoing investment in local cell infrastructure kept connectivity charges low, and helping to make high speed Internet connectivity more affordable.

Private investment, particularly in productive sectors, remained low due to an ongoing lack of confidence of potential investors in the political situation.

Faced with sluggish external demand, weak domestic consumption, rising labor costs, and low productivity, China depends excessively on investment to drive economic growth.

An asset diet rich in equities and direct investment and low in debt cannot substitute for other elements of fiscal and financial health.

Low cost domestic energy could help to lower the trade deficit, spur investment, and decrease America s economic exposure to volatile oil exporting countries.

Given that the urbanization ratio is still quite low, at 48 , a relatively high investment in infrastructure may be sustained for a long time.

With energy prices moving center stage, there is a danger that already weak incentives for investment in low carbon energy will be further undermined.

Responsible economic management, poverty reduction programs, structural reforms, and greater openness to foreign investment have all helped to generate years of low inflation growth.

The combination of high corporate saving and low business investment has sustained the current account surplus, allowing Japan to fund its budget deficit domestically.

But the answer is not a low quality investment binge led by government or fuelled by easy credit we know the consequences of that.

Pull factors relate to location specific advantages of the host countries such as market potential, low cost labour, incentives, investment opportunities, technology and skills.

It had been estimated that every percentage point increase in debt service in low income countries reduced public investment by about 0.2 per cent.

But the resulting economic slack gives us the historic opportunity and need to compensate for low consumer spending with increased investment spending on sustainable technologies.

Second, more investment is needed, particularly in low income countries, emerging markets, and oil producers (though less in China, the exception that proves the rule).

Such a low national saving rate would not be sufficient to finance the level of new investment in plant, equipment, and housing that the country needs.