Squiz Shortcuts: The productivity problem

Treasury has just released a document that looks ahead to what Australia might be like in 2066. It’s created a bunch of different news stories - trying to work out what things will be like 40 years from now is an interesting project. But one key word that keeps coming up in the coverage, and in economic news more broadly, is productivity. So we thought we’d explore exactly what productivity is, how it affects our economy, and why everyone’s talking about it.

Squiz Recommends:

Reading: This explainer from the ABC on what productivity actually is - it’s really good on why the jobs in health, education and care are so hard to measure, which is a big part of this puzzle.

Reading: This piece from UNSW that breaks the 2023 Intergenerational Report down into 7 charts. It shows just how much that one productivity assumption changes the picture over 40 years - it’s a good way to see why economists are arguing about it.

Hosted by Andrew Williams and Anna Pykett

Researched by Andrew Williams

Got a suggestion for a Squiz Shortcut topic? We'd love to hear it - email us at [email protected]

⁠Squiz Shortcuts⁠ is your back story to the big news stories… Want the email version? Sign up for the free Shortcuts newsletter here.