According to a recent NewsWeek article, productivity could be the key to helping fix the economy.

When it comes to politics, neither side will ever agree on what exactly will save the economy. The conservatives on the right will tell you that tax cuts are the way to go, while liberals on the left will tell you that spending and public works projects are what will help rebuild the economy.

So the author of the article, Daniel Gross, wrote that if history can teach us anything that in order to get the economy back to the level we have been accustomed to over the past few years, we are going to need a boost in productivity. When there are periods of high growth, there is a trend that reaches to every part and segment of the economy, examples include electricity, railroads, and credit (ultimately leading to cheap money). In an economy the size of the one of the United States, there will have to be a trend as large as one of these to jumpstart the economy because a small “boom” won’t reach all the sectors that need to be reached in order to experience economy growth.

Of course, the problem with this idea is there has to be a great idea to jumpstart the economy again. Gross says that perhaps it won’t be a single game-changing idea, but a compilation of many small ideas that helps get the economy back on track.

His idea is that we all try harder to get the economy back on track.

I think it is always a good idea when everyone helps out to reach a cohesive goal; especially when it comes to something as large as fixing the United States’ economy. There are certain areas of the economy that no amount of tax cuts or public works spending will be able to fix and I suppose this is where he thinks that we should all step it up a little to help out.

Of course, perhaps a large idea is what could boost the economy. There is a huge market brewing for green energy and to eliminate or at least reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. We saw the tip of the iceberg last summer when gas hit record highs and everyone was complaining. There was a lot of complaining going around about the price of gas and it lit a fire under everyone to get out and do something. Emissions dropped, the use of public transportation increased, and gas prices fell.

Whatever will help fix the economy, hopefully something will start up soon to help give a boost growth.