Productivity and American Leadership: The Long View - Tapa dura

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Those who announce the demise of American's position as an economic world leader are, like the author of Mark Twain's obituary, a bit premature. "Productivity and American Leadership "examines and analyzes the long run productivity performance of the United States, comparing it with that of other industrialized countries. It shows that the U.S. record, both recent and over longer periods, is far better than is widely believed, although the authors offer no grounds for complacency. Methods of measuring productivity, their appropriate uses, and their implications for well being are covered and policies are proposed that will lead to a more productive economy. The books unique long term focus reveals that while the United States may currently be lagging behind other industrialized nations in terms of productivity growth, there is no evidence of a slowing of productivity growth in U.S. manufacturing or in our share of manufacturing employment in the industrialized world. Other industrialized economies are learning from the United States (as well as from one another) and are gradually approaching our productivity levels, while the United States returns to "normal" historical rates after a brief period of extraordinary postwar growth. "Productivity and American Leadership "examines numerous underlying factors that bring about changes in productivity - the shift from a manufacturing to a service economy, the movement toward a more information centered economy, savings and investment rates, changes in education and the key question of whether growth, by depleting the worlds natural resources, must mortgage the future. William J. Baumol is Professor of Economics at Princeton University and NewYork University. Sue Anne Batey Blackman is Senior Research Assistant in the Department of Economics at Princeton University. Edward N. Wolff is Professor of Economies at New York University.