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To the extent your list of links address productivity gains at all, they miss the most important contribution: Inflation, or rather the historically impressive
by twoodfin 9y ago
To the extent your list of links address productivity gains at all, they miss the most important contribution: Inflation, or rather the historically impressive lack thereof over approaching three decades of net economic growth.
When firms produce more with less, supply goes up and prices go down. Compare the median American household in 1988 with today’s and you’ll see exactly where all those productivity gains have gone: More and better appliances, more and better cars, more and better communication technology, cheaper clothes, cheaper food—even at comparable inflation-adjusted income levels.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- toomuchtodo 9y agoInflation was low due to lack of consumer demand....because of wage stagnation (and I concede, offshoring). The Fed can’t “push the string” with QE, and here we are 10 years later from the GFC, finally with an economy hot enough to push wages up (thereby increasing inflation). https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-06-29/hollowing-out-of-middle-class-holding-back-economy-says-imf https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-06-29/hollowing-ou...