The Productivity Paradox: it's real and it's time to face it

Washington

OVER the last decade or so, productivity growth has slowed considerably in most major developed economies, even as impressive advances have been made in areas like computing, mobile telephony and robotics.

All these advances should have ostensibly boosted productivity; yet, in the United States, a world leader in technological innovation, business-sector labour productivity growth between 2004 and 2014 averaged less than half the rate of the previous decade.