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Kinda mindblowing: So the slowdown in productivity growth from 2007-2019 refers to a growth rate of about 1.5% a year. From 1945-1973 it was around 2.8%. But like, 1.5% a year still means that in a single generation, an hour of work produces 45% more stuff! In 50 years it's more than double the stuff. 2.8% *is* much faster (double per generation) but still! By historical standards, 1.5% is zany fast. 9 comments
 @ZachWeinersmith My issue is what the heck "productivity" even means. "Do more faster" is not progress if the thing you're doing is bad. And here we are working more, stressing more, less well fed, less housed, and less healthy as a society.  Productivity has rocketed ahead when we consider that’s an annual rate. A few months ago I calculated what my (inflation adjusted) wage would be if I was paid the same rate for my work. Productivity has increased over the past two decades and I calculated my salary should now be in the region of $22,000,000 It’s not, unfortunately.  @ZachWeinersmith so assuming 2% growth for the period between: And I think we're all aware where the difference in value has gone (I think it was significantly faster, but that isn't material for this part)  @RandomDamage @ZachWeinersmith yeah what's mindblowing isn't the productivity rate, it's that workers' pay and hours haven't progressed proportionally. @RandomDamage @ZachWeinersmith (which, incidentally, is the primary reason why it has slumped over time)  @ZachWeinersmith I think the difference vs the past is that we live in an age where credit drives so much economic anxiety, and credit is basically assuming growth at a certain rate. |
Gregory's Server
Put another way, if a person is born today, and the "slow" rate holds for 75 years, when they are 75, a single hour of labor is triple the output of when they were born.