The Big Economic Worry: Productivity is Slowing (Samuelson)

[Virginia Dare]

this is a very interesting take on the current economic climate:


The start of a new year is a good time to take stock, and there are few better indicators of our long-term economic prospects -- and also our prospects for political and social peace -- than productivity. As anyone who's taken basic college economics should know, productivity is simply jargon for efficiency. It's also what most people think of as economic progress. The good news is that productivity has been growing strongly; the bad news is that it may be moving to a much slower path.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/02/AR2007010200943.html

[ProfessorGAC]

1. Then He's Wrong

Given the natural growth curve of productivity as technology improves and cheapens over time, the productivity he talked about as being good was not. The productivity, adjusted for technology enhancement is lower than it was in 1987. So, if it goes down, that means things are going from weak to weaker, not from good to bad.

Samuelson isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.
The Professor

[Parisle]

2. Whose "Big Economic Worry?"

--- The investment class? Sorry,.. but the "big economic worry" is more concerned with debt and currency valuation. Then you could toss in the trade imbalance, "true" unemployment rate and the widening gap between rich and poor,.... all long before you get to the relatively microbic issue of productivity. And for that matter, the problem of inordinate corporate influence on federal policy is a greater problem, as well. The economy IS indeed the prevailing issue (threat) confronting the republic,.... but the republic is 300 million strong. Samuelson needs to get his nose out of the books and take a walk down Main St.

[Virginia Dare]

3. That's my take too...

average Americans have been worrying for a while now. Nobody takes it seriously until the investment class starts getting nervous. I like the part where he says nobody knows exactly what drives productivity. Like you said, take a walk down mainstreet bub.

[Parisle]

4. Thank You, Virginia,........

---- I'm still enjoying the discovery of who my fellow Virginians are on this forum. Here's hoping that our state's ascent into greater political significance is on the democratic side of the aisle,... I think it will be.

[LiberalEsto]

5. People don't feel productive

when the money they are making for their company goes only to the rich CEOs and stockholders.

Samuelson is a right-wing ass. Productivity is down because the ruling rich have stomped so hard on American workers that people have become demoralized.

People don't feel productive when they don't get raises, or only pitifully small ones that don't keep up with inflation.

People don't feel productive when they are exhausted trying to work three minimum wage jobs just to keep a roof over their heads and feed their families.

People don't feel productive when they know their company's executives can rip off their hard-earned pension money and there is absolutely nothing the workers can do about it.

People don't feel productive when they know their jobs could be shipped overseas at a moment's notice.

People don't feel productive when they can be laid off and replaced with lower-paid foreign workers, leaving them with no decent-paying job opportunities for their skills.

People don't feel productive when houses are so expensive that there is no way they can even dream about saving to buy one.

People don't feel productive when the cost of everything goes up and they keep falling farther and farther behind economically.

People don't feel productive when college is so expensive that they can't afford to send their kids there.