The economy may never return to the buoyant growth pace, which at times exceeded 4 percent, that prevailed prior to the 2007-09 recession, many experts say.

The pessimists include economists of varying political stripes, from liberal Paul Krugman, to moderate Larry Summers, to conservative Robert Hall, The New York Times notes.

The economy usually grows more than 3 percent a year after a recession, but this time around the expansion has averaged about 2 percent a year. And the Congressional Budget Office predicts that even after the economy returns to full employment, growth will average just 2.1 percent.

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"Many today wonder whether something that has always been true in our past will be true in our future," Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in a speech this week. 

"There are questions about whether America can maintain strong rates of growth and doubts about whether the benefits of technology, innovation and prosperity will be shared broadly."

Summers argues that the government must boost spending on infrastructure and technology to boost growth.

To be sure, not everyone is bearish on the economy, at least for the short term. Many economists predict annualized GDP will advance more than 3 percent for the rest of the year, after shrinking 1 percent in the first quarter.

"The unusually cold winter, along with temporary drags from an inventory correction and weaker trade, slowed economic activity in the first quarter," Christopher Low, chief economist of FTN Financial, tells the St. Louis Business Journal.

"As these temporary factors fade, the underlying health of the economy will show through, with business spending and hiring leading the charge."

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Related Stories:

• Lindsey Group's Boockvar: 'All the Evidence Points to' 2.5 Percent Growth, Not 3 Percent
• Princeton University Economist Blinder: GDP Growth Unlikely to Reach 3 Percent for 2014