Amidst inflation concerns, productivity growth is a bright spot for future economic growth. This tech growth is spurred by labor shortages and companies are turning to technology to make up for their demand. Chipotle is looking to automate tedious aspects of their jobs in order to lure in more workers. Walmart is announcing it will send robots to warehouses where labor shortages have most affected productivity.
What this all means for the future of the economy when looked at as a whole is uncertain. Increases in investment and productivity growth are bright spots for the economy but whether they are temporary as a result of pandemic related issues or indicative of long-term trends is unclear. Robert Gordon, a University of Northwestern Economist suggests that much of the recent increase in productivity is a result of remote work in the finance or professional services as software investments promote remote work. As productivity growth is only sustainable by tech advances, perhaps the investments in tech will catch up with tech advancements and increasing interest rates should limit investment in the newest most expensive technology. Long-term then it would be suggested that the current rate of productivity growth is unsustainable. There a lot of questions surrounding the current climate of the economy pertaining to whether certain aspects of growth are sustainable and whether changes we've seen are permanent.
I think that it's very interesting to see that we have this technology and that it has helped us. It makes sense that there would be an increase in this technology because of how much technology was needed during the pandemic. Though this is a positive change, I wonder how it will continue to grow in the future. This technology can help when there is a lack of people willing to work, but will it take jobs from people who are looking for jobs in the future?
ReplyDeleteThis much growth with the constant upward trend of inflation around the world. Are we going into another recession?
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