A lot more could be said about this subject, but I will leave it to others, and move on to a related subject. It seems to me to be quite possible to have higher productivity growth and yet to still encounter macro-economic imbalances which would bring an economic expansion to a halt.
*  *  *  The financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, together with the associated deep recession, was a historic event – historic in the sense that its severity and economic consequences were enormous, but also in the sense that, as the papers at this conference document, the crisis seems certain to have profound and long-lasting effects on our economy, our society, and our politics.