In the Arena

Economists’ reliance on R&D and patent metrics distorts our understanding of productivity growth. Time to correct the conclusion: Here’s why these proxies fail to capture the forces that do drive it.

A pro-worker agenda isn’t the same as a “national greatness” agenda. Workers are an interest group like any other: sometimes aligned with what’s best for the American Republic, and sometimes not.

Unions are interest groups, and America’s challenges require every group to put the national interest ahead of narrow self-interest. Yes, including blue-collar workers.

We see plenty of “useful idiots” today. They no longer carry the Bolsheviks’ water, but rather parrot the CCP line as they disparage the West and praise China.

Governments must treat productivity growth as a deliberate pursuit, not a happy accident. A global effort to identify, study, and replicate best-in-class practices would move us closer to that goal.

With capital-lite corporate strategies shaped by Wall Street’s demand for high returns on assets and invested capital, U.S. firms invest relatively little in robotics. Meanwhile, China’s capital-heavy model fuels rapid productivity gains.

Americans have forgotten that prosperity depends on valuing productivity, grounding ideals in realism, striving for progress, and maintaining the optimism and adventurous spirit to embrace change.

If Senator Sanders wants to raise wages, he should focus on the real cause of slow growth, lagging productivity from low capital investment, instead of stymieing AI.

Although the seven values of the American Business Creed were widely accepted in the 1950s, two have eroded over time, driven largely by changes in business itself.

Unless we can restore the growth imperative in the West, we can—no surprise—expect slower, or in the case of some countries like Canada and the UK, negative per-capita income growth.