&gt;The author assumes that more productivity is always good, even though Japan has been suffering a lack of economic demand for most of the last 26 years. Big gains in productivity would only make the lack of demand worse.<p>The Japanese unemployment rate is now at 3.1%, which is very low, even for Japan.  In that kind of job market you need big gains in productivity because employers will have trouble filling job openings.  There&#x27;s no reason for the government to artificially stimulate job creation.