Productivity S False Facade
–Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, in congressional testimony, Feb. 11, 2003 We go through these fads–these fixations with certain economic statistics, which are imbued with immense significance–and productivity remains one of them. Superficially, the news is reassuring. In 2002 labor productivity bounded ahead by an astounding 4.8 percent, which is the best performance since 1950 (8.5 percent). This suggests that the American economy is fundamentally sound and that, once war uncertainties lift, it will roar ahead....