Article source
Wall Street Journal
Article date
Sun, Jun 11, 2017
Economists have long been puzzling over why productivity has downshifted over the past decade, often blaming waning technological innovation for the pullback. New research, though, points to an overlooked culprit: the shortage of credit to many companies that followed the financial crisis.
Productivity is how much a worker can produce per hour and is the main source of rising standards of living. Its growth has slowed sharply around the world since the financial crisis. Because what employers can pay is closely linked to how much workers produce, this weak growth is a reason for slow wage gains.