Over at his blog, PPI chief economic strategist Michael Mandel has a fascinating and mammoth post tackling the question: “How much of the productivity surge of 2007-2009 was real?” The answer: Just about nothing.
“I estimate that the actual productivity gains in 2007-2009 may have been very close to zero,” writes Mandel “In addition, the drop in real GDP in this period was probably significantly larger than the numbers showed.”
He also explores some of the implications for economic policy. Mandel also replies to his critics here.
