This gap is estimated to be quite wide currently, which suggests that there are still significant opportunities for firms to upgrade the quality of their technology and with it the level of productivity. The paper presented by Stephen Oliner and Dan Sichel this morning also provides a basis for arguing that a significant portion--and possibly all--of the productivity revival of the mid-1990s is sustainable.
Compared to the transitory case, another difference is that a lasting change in relative prices can also lower potential GDP.