The Productivity Paradox

Our aim in this chapter is to examine the relationship between technology and economic values, focusing on the “productivityProductivity paradoxProductivity paradoxProductivity,” the undisputed fact that many “labor-saving” technologies create more work, at least for the women of the society. The “productivity paradoxProductivity paradox” results from a focus on private goods at the expense of public goods and common pool resources, which has been the focus of liberal economics for the past three centuries. By considering other types of values, including both sociability and transcendence, the value added by technology becomes more subtle.