I think the author was criticising malinvestment, rather than arguing for higher productivity.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Malinvestment" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Malinvestment</a><p>According to the Austrian school, market interventions like those in Japan are bad _regardless_ of the effect on productivity, because they represent malinvestment.