American workers are becoming less productive. Blame the pandemic - Jason Furman

August 8, 2022, Audio: "According to the Labor Department, there was a drop in productivity in the first quarter of the year that saw productivity fall by the most since 1947. Labor productivity boils down to how much a worker can produce in a given period of time. According to Betsey Stevenson, an economics professor at the University of Michigan, it’s “what’s the amount of output per hour. So if you’re in a coffee shop, thinking about, you know, how many cups of coffee the person can sell.” She says improving technology can improve that output per hour — a more-efficient coffee maker might churn cups out faster. And when improvements like that spread across the whole economy, it can really improve our living standards." Listen Via Marketplace

HKS Faculty Author - Jason Furman