ductivity started at a far lower base level in 1960 than did that in the United States, large proportionate improvements were far easier to attain than they were in the United States. Having made this assertion, it is necessary to emphasize that the Japanese productivity gains have been significant, and that, should existing trends continue unchanged, the Japanese labor productivity in absolute terms would equal that of the United States in approximately the year 2000.
Data pertaining to total hours provide some additional insights into the Japanese output increases. The Japanese have
3Council of Economic Advisers, 41; J. Paxton, (Ed.), The Statesman's Year Book, 1989 1990, 126th ed. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989), 763, 1411 1413.
4L. Thurow, "America, Europe, and Japan: A Time to Dis mantle the World Economy," The Economist, 9 November 1985, 14.
recorded significant increases in total hours worked, as well as increases in the productivity of those hours. The combin ation of the two factors has had highly positive impacts on total output. By contrast, total hours of input in the United States decreased significantly subsequent to 1979. This phenomenon is easily explained in the recession years of 1982 and 1983. It is not easily explai
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