#1 Long Term Economic Growth

Economic Growth determined by two factors:

1. How fast the population grows - Number of workers growing more quickly so economic output should grow more quickly.

2. Productivity per worker/unit of labor - As the productivity of each worker increases, even if the work force is not growing very quickly, then it can be expected that economic output to grow rapidly also.

The question to ask then is:

What causes an upward trend in an average labor productivity? And how important is that in increasing long term economic growth?

One fact to note: (US economy)
From 1950 to 1973 labor productivity 2.5% average annual rate.
From 1973 to approximately 1995, the growth rate of labor productivity dropped sharply to 1.1%
From 1973 to present day, it has been growing at close to a 2% rate.

What caused this sharp slowdown and this sharp acceleration? And what are the implications of this in terms of living standard and economic growth?

Hope you guys leave your comments so we can discuss this.