Summary and Conclusions

Abstract

Poor productivity poses the major threat to the UK and US economies. It should be but isn’t our main economic preoccupation. Growth does not depend solely on the rate at which technology improves. It can be raised by improvements in policy for which I have three suggestions. The first is to change either the perverse incentives of modern management remuneration, or their impact on the economy. The second is that companies should publish their output and the working hours of their employees. The third is to end the folly of allowing interest to be a deductible expense for corporation tax. The damage to the economy from the bonus culture is currently met with silence. This book aims to get the issue debated, so that the need will become self-evident and be accompanied by the new policies we need.