We found widespread awareness of the importance of investing in technological innovation, albeit only as a means to increase business volumes and revenues by reaching customers who cannot be served by the physical distribution network. The potential for development in terms of cost-cutting and of process and product innovation was less of a consideration.
This somewhat abstract description of the effects of a step-up in the growth rate of technical change bears a striking resemblance to the developments of recent years in labor markets, prices of goods and services, capital investments, and fixed-income markets. But there’s still an element missing: the stock market.