Productivity declines for third straight quarter

So how do we increase productivity?

 

Predictable.


http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/09/02/fear-the-low-productivity-economy-of-the-future/


Fear the Low-Productivity Economy of the Future


Economic health is a tricky thing to measure, especially in the short term. Monthly numbers are often revised, quarterly forecasts are ruined by unpredictable events, countless subtle metrics must be considered, and the desirable optimum state of the economy is difficult to express in simple terms.
In fact, one of the worst things about politicized economics is the false promise that politicians know what the ideal economy looks like, never mind having solid plans for getting there. Is the ideal economy one in which everyone’s basic needs are covered? Welcome to the endless grey fog of the collectivist welfare or communist state, which always proves unsustainable and fails to deliver on those promises anyway. Is it an economy where everyone works?

We could have that with hardcore fascism, indentured servitude, or various other authoritarian horrors, none of which is any sane person’s vision for the prosperous future of a free nation. How about an economy where the gap between rich and poor is smaller and more “equal?” Making everyone poor is the fastest, most dependable way to arrange that.

 

Part of the loss is attributable to the Affordable Care Act.

LINK - Economics 21.org:

"University of Chicago economists Casey Mulligan and Trevor Gallen recently released a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper titled, 'Wedges, Wages, and Productivity Under the Affordable Care Act'.

..."This contributes to a loss of total productivity of about one percent and a reduced per-capita output of about two percent."

... "A fully implemented ACA will create a tax “wedge” with effects similar to tripling employer payroll taxes..."

"The ACA will directly cost 1.4 trillion dollars over the next decade and, as research such as Mulligan and Gallen’s shows, the secondary costs through decreased productivity and labor market utilization will be even higher."