Here, if we use the simplest measure of productivity, which is labour productivity, the pattern in Australia is very similar to the pattern in the United States (Graph 2): strong growth in the 1960s, a flattening out in the 1970s and 1980s, followed by a pick-up in the 1990s.
But the pick-up in the 1990s in Australia has been more pronounced than in the United States. We have gone from 1.7% per annum to 2.9% per annum, whereas the United States went from 1.5% per annum to 2% per annum.