The reason for this is that the export industries, which tend to be an engine of innovation and productivity, are not contributing their part in pushing productivity forward, and the low level of investment contributes less to increased production capacity and to increased productivity derived from the adoption of technologies inherent in new capital.
BIS Review 23/2001  5  Business fixed investment expanded rapidly in America during the 1990s, to well above its historical average. Investment in information technology and communications equipment surged, with capacity to produce this equipment expanding by 50 per cent in the past year alone.