I will first review our current understanding of the causes of the recent productivity resurgence. With that background, I will next consider the near-term prospects for productivity growth. Finally, I will discuss briefly how the evolving productivity picture affects both the economic outlook and the appropriate stance of monetary policy.
As always, my remarks today do not necessarily reflect the views of my colleagues at the Federal Reserve.2  The U.S. productivity resurgence and its causes Why has productivity growth increased? The favored explanation of the rise in productivity growth since about 1995 has evolved somewhat over time.