I heard two disturbing facts this morning that indicate the prospects of reviving the U.S. economy seem much more daunting than many realized.
1. The top seven tech firms in the nation – Apple, Google, Yahoo, Windows, etc. – are the lions of American economic power. But they employ one-third as many workers as General Motors alone did in 1970.
2. The U.S. economy had its most productive decade ever in 2000-10, based on figures reflecting increased productivity in private sector production, but nearly all of that was due to increased use of technology and machinery. Wages, which normally rise in conjunction with productivity, were stagnant and the most productive decade ever left in its wake 14 million unemployed workers.
