In the last part of my talk I will discuss the challenges that monetary policy faces in this context and the important role that other economic policies must play. Productivity growth: past trends The facts When comparing European and U.S. labour productivity growth over the post-WWII period, measured by real GDP per hour worked, three phases can be identified (Figure 1).
In the first phase, immediately following the War, productivity growth was strong in both economic areas, but especially so in Europe where it remained on average almost 3 percentage points above the 2.4 percent level in the U.S..