From: Wednesday August 5, 2026, 12:30 pm
To: Wednesday August 5, 2026, 1:30 pm
Paul Krugman’s claim that, in the long run, productivity is “almost everything” in determining living standards has become a central organising principle in economic policy debates. John O'Mahony, Partner at Deloitte, will argue that the maxim is only conditionally valid and is misleading when applied to real-world economies.
First, there are significant omissions from productivity measures, including natural resources and non-market sector outputs. Second, productivity is an inadequate proxy for broader social welfare. Third, the direction of causality is two-way: living standards, demand conditions, and macroeconomic policy also shape productivity outcomes.
Periods of weak productivity growth may reflect not only economic constraints but also socially optimal choices in mature economies. Policymakers should move toward a broader dashboard of economic and social indicators.
Join us from 12.30 - 1.30pm online via Microsoft Teams.
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John O’Mahony is a partner at Deloitte Access Economics in Sydney, where he specialises in trends in the digital economy. John’s econometric research has been published in the Economic Record and the Australian Economic Review. He has worked at the Australian Financial Review, in the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Economics and Business and served as a Senior Economic Adviser for Prime Minister's Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. John was awarded the University of Sydney Medal for the First-Class Honours degree in Commerce (Liberal Studies) and has been awarded two Cannes Lions awards.