The problem is that service industries ultimately have to compete for workers in the same national labor pool as sectors with fast productivity growth, such as finance, manufacturing, and information technology. Even though the pools of workers may be somewhat segmented, there is enough overlap that it forces service-intensive industries to pay higher wages, at least in the long run.
为什么缓慢的生产率增长转化成了高成本呢？关键在于服务业最终得和高速生产率增长的金融业、制造业和信息技术行业在同一个国家的劳动力市场里争夺劳动力。尽管这些市场的劳动力可能会被分割成不的领域，但是中间依然有足够的重叠迫使服务密集型行业不得不支付更高的工资来雇佣员工——至少从长远来看是如此。