SINCE the financial crisis, sagging productivity growth has given politicians and economists alike sleepless nights. In America productivity has risen by just 9% since 2007; France’s by 2%. In Britain, it has fallen. Unless productivity picks up, wages cannot grow. Investing more in education, health care and technology is the normal way of boosting productivity growth. But governments across the world, from Australia to New Zealand to Britain, are starting to argue that tackling another big problem—bubbly housing markets—may give productivity a boost. Are they right?
