Are We Doomed to Slow Growth? - The New York Times

The very evidence Gordon cites for pessimism — persistent inequality, low productivity growth, lack of major innovations — can also be read as signs of opportunity. In the last century, the main way a person’s productivity rose was by going to work at a large company and doing what the boss said. Today, lots of people are finding ways to improve their own lot — and overall productivity — on their own. They sell crafts on Etsy, get funding on Kickstarter, build toys with 3-D printers. They learn through online classes and prove their skills on sites like Topcoder. Right now, the benefits of this digital, shared, distributed economy are accruing only to a tiny group of people and, even more, to the companies that serve them. But it’s at least conceivable that digital technology could help build new models of education, new ways for workers to collectively bargain, new tools to allow more people to identify and sell their skills and ideas to those who want them. There could be financial products that make it easier to withstand increasing volatility and insecurity. There could be an easier path to entrepreneurship, so more people with good ideas could present them to the market.