Daniel Sichel’s paper looks at the slowdown in productivity since 1970. Economists have been puzzled at this slowdown as it has been unlike anything in recorded recent history. Sichel analyzes data and a study by [Zvi] Griliches (1994) to try and account for this slowdown. He suggests that this slowdown could in fact be a misinterpretation of the data that is in fact just the result of change over time. Essentially, the slowdown in productivity is not as drastic as previously thought and the nature of productivity has changed rather than the level of productivity.
One Comment
A good start, but skimpy.
1. US data? “Since 1970” means 1971-2014?? Entire economy, or just manufacturing, or ???
2. Why does he think others misinterpret data? What do they do wrong [that he does right]?
3. What level of productivity growth does he find?
Please also include a bibliographic citation!
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