The American worker is on a productivity tear and it may have more to do with a surge in working from home than the effects of AI, according to a Stanford economist.
For the past five years, the output for non-farm businesses has increased by a sizable 2% per year, The Economist reported citing statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is a marked increase from the 1% productivity growth per year that defined most of the 2010s, and a trend that has taken even Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell by surprise.
Yet, while the hype around AI over the past several years makes it a logical candidate for the main driver behind the productivity boom, Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford economics professor who is known for explaining the Great Resignation of the early 2020s, says it’s more likely work-from-home policies since the pandemic are fueling the trend.
It’s a finance cost, an accounting cost. When the building is fully occupied they list it as an asset worth 100%, but if it’s 50% occupied they have to mark it down. That affects their credit rating, interest rates on debts, etc. So yes, in reality nothing is worse, the cash flow is better spending less on maintenance, but in the world of finance it causes issues.