Were past productivity data releases based on pump-up number games?
Note from the chart at the top of this page the jump for 1996-99 which seems to indicate U.S. productivity growth picked up a bit in those years. Dr. Kurt Richebacher (former chief economist of the Dresdner Bank in Germany) of The Richebacher Letter (June 1999) points out reported productivity was substantially enhanced by way of downward revisions in the calculation of the inflation rate since 1995 – – (without cranking back the new method into data for prior years). Additionally – over the years 1996-98, U.S. GDP was reported to have increased about 4% annually. Of this total for 1998 38% of GDP growth accrued from investment in computer power (they now measure increased computer power instead of volume of computer production, although computer power has little to do with true productivity). Yet, the computer industry represents just 3-4% of national employment. Essentially, this implies a correspondingly disproportionate contribution of this small sector to the economy’s overall pro
