Is "The Productivity Miracle" History?
An economist lands on a distant planet. He is greeted by alien emissaries. Anxious to learn about the planet, the economist questions the aliens. But instead of the classic “take me to your leader,” he inquires, “what is your trend productivity growth?” (This scares the aliens and they zap him into dust.)
This little allegory is designed to highlight the prominent position of productivity—output per hour worked—in the economists’ hierarchy. I raise it because we’ve got trouble in River City. And that starts with ‘T’ and that rhymes with ‘P’ and that stands for productivity slowdown.
