I have been giving this considerable thought over the years, at least since the Great Recession.  I can recall at family events my grandparents, themselves children of the Great Depression, discussing the impact this economic event had on their psyche.  There is no question that this most modern "cataclysm" has had a severe impact on business, and personal wealth.  I believe I have read that companies on average hold more cash on hand than before, and take fewer risks, which ultimately results in fewer losses, but more importantly, less growth.  Which in of itself manifests to become continued risk aversion.  

With ROI's on many investments touching new lows (on average), businesses leaders are reticent to make investments to earn 4% before tax gains, and risk the capital and restricted liquidity to do so.  In some business realms you would need to execute perfectly to even achieve these very modest (by comparison) gains over time, which we all know in business is not an easy feat.  So why risk it?  Put the cash in a mattress, and wait for the rainy day.  Meanwhile, productivity, growth and investment wins are muted.

Government also has a role here.  To encourage capital to chase opportunity.  However, it appears we are siding instead on the increase of money supply and driving the public spend, to a very neutered effect.

In the end, sociologists will win the day, by writing about how this period of time wasn't just a small adjustment, but probably generational and seismic in scale.