Otherwise there is a risk of further differences between those who have skills that benefit from the new technology and those who are replaced. How long these differences prevail will depend on how quickly people with outdated skills can adopt new skills, change their way of thinking and benefit from the new conditions. But, as I said, this isn't really anything new. As we saw earlier, the agricultural society was replaced by an industrial society that has been replaced by a services society. The number of jobs has not declined and GDP per capita shows a rising trend. But we need to also see the human fates beneath the statistical surface. The fact that welfare is increasing on a general level does not mean that the changes are being made without any frictions at individual level. The effects of technological advances may be different from before An important difference between the current technological developments and the previous revolutions is that the new economy requires increasing elements of purely human traits. Muscle power was needed in both agriculture and the manufacturing industry. Both sectors had many routine and relatively simple work tasks. But in the new economy creativity, inventiveness and the “human touch” are considered important. These are abilities that often require adaptation to the situation, they are difficult to teach and therefore difficult to copy, even with new technology. The new skills we need to acquire make high demands of our educational systems and of skills development in companies and in the public sector.
If we look at Sweden, productivity growth in the business sector has been very weak since 2006, a year or so before the global financial crisis occurred. We have often had to revise down our productivity forecasts as a result of the surprisingly weak development. Productivity has also shown weak development in other developed countries recently, which indicates that it is the result of a joint trend. There are many possible explanations for the decline. Some economists, such as Robert Gordon, say we are in a period of very low productivity growth that will be the new normal for a rather long time. According to this point of view, a large share of the fruits of digitalisation have already been harvested. As early as 2005, for instance, several economies had adapted their business methods and models  3  Roine (2016). 2 [12]  to the internet.