There are so many problems with these sorts of measurements anyway. My own country Norway had on paper rapid productivity growth simply because our main export oil increased in value. A lot of the productivity before the great recession was just an illusion caused by the broken financial industry. The inflation of the asset bubble looked like economic growth and hence productivity growth.<p>Hence what if productivity growth is just normal today? It is simply what it is when financial wizards aren&#x27;t there to hide the truth.<p>Anyway perhaps people should stop being so obsessed about GDP and productivity numbers as they are distorting reality. If more people get sick or do more crime GDP will increase as health care and police produce more services. More people in prison also produce prison services adding to GDP. But none of this really adds to the well being of the population or the economic strength of the country.