BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY
My new NYT column examines some of the many fascinating insights and examples in William Lewis's new book, The Power of Productivity.
An educated work force is not essential for economic growth. Neither is a high saving rate. Manufacturing is not the most influential economic sector.
These contrarian conclusions come from a new book by William W. Lewis, the founding director of the McKinsey Global Institute, a division of the McKinsey & Company consulting firm. Since 1991, the institute's researchers have conducted the most comprehensive international studies available on productivity by industry sector.
In "The Power of Productivity," published by the University of Chicago Press, Mr. Lewis pulls together some results of that decade-long research.
The book helps explain why the American economy has done better - and Europe and Japan have done worse - than most people predicted in the late 1980's. It also offers a simultaneously hopeful and depressing view of economic conditions in poor countries, focusing on Brazil, India and Russia.
Read the rest here. For even more on the book, see Dan Drezner's posts here and here. If you're willing to put up with ackward navigation and free registration, the studies on which the book is based are available on the McKinsey Global Institute site.