David Leonhardt ask as a good question in yesterday's Times magazine: After we fix the economy, how will it grow? The industries that have driven growth in recent years have either been fake (the housing bubble, the internet bubble) or have reached their peak in terms of added productivity (the non-fake benefits of internet technology). But growth is the only way we can pay down our national debt, balance the budget and generally return the U.S. to a position of economic strength. Unfortunately, Leonhardt never really answers his question directly, drifting into a discussion of the costs of a green economy, the benefits of health care reform, the problems of U.S. education and the difficulties of entrenched interests. It's a worthwhile series of digressions, though, for your Monday morning consideration.
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