Good for whom?

China and India are arguably the world's best performing economies over the last decade - both have seen large productivity gains.. Yet, China has managed to address poverty more effectively than India.

According to the World Bank, the rate of extreme poverty in Chinas declined from 84% in 1981 to just 12% in 2019.  The comparable decline in India during the same period was from 60 to 33%.

India's population have put great confidence in Prime Minister Modhi.  He has talked up good solutions - nut now is the time to execute. India's poor are relying on him to turn higher productivity into a fairer society.

Exhortation is not enough

Lots of national governments - and other agencies-  make calls to their populace for a productivity revolution.  They are simply urging people to work harder.

Bu we know that productivity revolutions do not occur because people work harder or when people work longer hours (despite what Jeb Bush might think).

So, a 'call to arms' is unlikely to be effective.

Governments need to do more - to build  a strategy (or at least a plan) for productivity development involving policy and infrastructure elements (macroeconomics, regulation, transport, telecoms, education, skills). They need to build a potential for higher productivity which enlightened firms can exploit. Individuals might then respond with higher productivity.

A Greek Tragedy?

If Greece is forced out of either the Euro, the EU or both - there are clear implications for theGreek economy. But will there be any implications for underlying productivity.

Well, there is some evidence - ironically from Greece itself - that national confidence and national pride do have a significant impact on the productivity of workers.

When Athens hosted the Olympics in 2004, there was a surge of national pride and of 'engagement' of the workforce with their country.   This resulted in both a sense of well-being for the workers and in a boost to the economy.

This suggests, unfortunately, that  exit from the Euro might have a negative effect on productivity and the economy - perhaps resulting in a kind of 'vicious spiral' of decline in the economy and national confidence.

Where did thr dream go?

When I was a teenager (warning - ancient history lesson coming up!), we were regaled with promises of the paperless office and factory automation - leading to a life of leisure (and luxury).  Now people work longer hours than ever before - and many are never really off duty - being permanently connected to the office network.

Where did it all go wrong?

This is one of life's great productivity paradoxes - increasing automation results in more work for people, not less.