Why Hasn’t Technology Sped up Productivity?
The required readings this time around are, for topic 3, “Why hasn’t technology sped up productivity? (Links to an external site.)“, by microeconomist Chad Syverson
If you choose to write about topic 3’s reading, here are some things to address:
1. What particularly surprised, interested, or confused you about what you read?
2. For one of the four analyses that Syverson discusses, explain the nature and the significance of the counterfactual that’s being considered, as if you were explaining it to a non-economist. Why should they care?
3. Syverson says “[i]f productivity growth stays where it is, you should be worried.” Do you agree or disagree? How important do you think labor productivity is, having hopefully learned some more about it in class and from this reading?
Please aim for around 400-600 words. You can touch on the things I’ve mentioned here if it helps you, but you don’t have to restrict yourself to them: if you had other reactions or thoughts when reflecting on the reading feel free to share those too! Remember that we’re interested in your thoughts and reactions, whatever they might be.
