June 2019. GrowthPolicy’s interviewed Benjamin Friedman, William Joseph Maier Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University, on the future of productivity growth in America, the true meaning of sustainable economic growth, and J. M. Keynes’s “” essay. | Click for more interviews like this one.
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Growthpolicy.org. How should we promote economic growth?
Benjamin Friedman: We know very little about how to influence the long-term rate of growth of economic activity. Presumably such matters as basic research, investment in both physical capital (including infrastructure) and the human capital of the labor force, and the efficiency of the process by which we allocate both investment and labor all matter. In recent years we’ve been falling behind in every one of those categories. In principle, therefore, there are plenty of obvious things to do. But resources and human energy are limited, and so it would be helpful to know, quantitatively, which direction to emphasize in whatever steps public policy takes. Alas, we don’t have much real evidence to help us make that judgment.
Growthpolicy.org. Where will the jobs of the future come from?
Benjamin Friedman: Recent research suggests that t