2. Variable multidecadal growth rates. As is evident for the eight countries in figure 2 and as can also be seen by curves for individual countries in figure 1, growth rates for individual countries have substantial long-run variability. Pritchett (2000) characterized this variability as episodic growth, which led Hausmann, Pritchett, and Rodrik (2005), Jones and Olken (2008), and others to develop empirical models of discrete transitions, or breaks, across growth regimes. As seen in table 1a, this variability of long-run growth rates is evident in both developed economies (witness the long-run growth slowdown in the United States over the past two decades) and non-OECD countries.⁰⁰