The productivity paradox

To become wealthier, a country needs strong growth in productivity--the output of goods or services from given inputs of labor and capital. For most people, in theory at least, higher productivity means the expectation of rising wages and abundant job opportunities. Productivity growth in most of the world's rich countries has been dismal since around 2004. Especially vexing is the sluggish pace of what economists call total factor productivity--the part that accounts for the contributions of innovation and technology. In a time of Facebook, smartphones, self-driving cars, and computers that can beat a person at just about any board game, how can the key economic measure of technological progress be so pathetic?