>Since most services are
>nonproductive (neither increase nor decrease the total real output
>of consumable and investible goods and services, representing merely
>private or social overhead costs) "productivity" is not a meaningful
>concept in relation to them.
>
What does that mean? How does any economic activity fail to increase the output of consumable or investable goods or services?
The biggest sources of employment growth lately have been restaurants and health care. They're crappy jobs, sure, but aren't restaurant meals and heart surgeries "consumable services"? Would you want to live in a society that lacks them?
Seth