William Priest, CEO and co-CIO of Epoch Investment Partners, says “2% [growth] is the new 4% as far as developed markets are concerned.” He continues: “Global GDP is a function of just two things – it’s growth in the workforce and growth in productivity.” However, he pointed out in this video on CNBC that lower growth does not necessarily mean lower cash flow. He suggested that, while there may be less capital investment than one would like, we will “see a continuation of lots of [merger and acquisition] activity.” Further, he expects “continued growth of what we call share-holder yield, and that’ll be cash dividends, share buyback, and, where relevant, debt paydowns.”