There is a widespread perception that the UK economy has a ‘productivity problem’. Googling this topic produces newspaper headlines which read as follows: ‘Why is the UK’s productivity still behind that of other major economies?’ (Guardian, 2 October 2016), ‘The UK’s productivity is dismally low’ (Independent, 1 April 2017) and ‘Britain’s productivity problem is as bad as ever’ (New Statesman, 28 January 2016). These are just a few examples of articles in which the media perception is that the UK is ‘bottom of the league’ when it comes to productivity.
In this column we will examine the nature of the UK’s productivity problem and assess whether the media’s obsession with this issue is justified. In doing so we need to ask the following questions:
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