The shift to market-based systems has been interacting with a second force - a heightened pace of technological change, especially the declining cost of generating and transmitting information. We can see the effects of technological change here at home, where it has considerably boosted the growth rate of productivity since the mid-1990s.
Globally, cheaper access to more information has eased the integration and coordination of geographically diverse production processes. This development has opened up opportunities to transfer production to locations in which the work can be accomplished  1  The views are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of other members of the Federal Open Market Committee or the Board.