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Great article bringing some new insight into the productivity-growth debate. I can't for one moment imagine that our 'Masters' will be interested in such because they are on a path (to destruction) that they can't get off - it will require them to confess their errors. We need a new generation of 'Masters' which I reckon is 10 - 20yrs away, so I think we'll have tighten our belts in the mean time.

I work in the water sector which has come under constant criticism from the Regulator for slow productivity growth. I've put it down to more oppressive regulation (which I'm sure it is) but your article brings further insight. Water company costs (across 5yr investment cycles) are split roughly 50/50 between opex and capex (although the capex is obvs depreciated) and the slow productivity growth in construction (which is my specialism) will have a big impact as well.

Water companies can and do produce their own green energy but in the 100 or so projects I've been involved in not one would have received shareholder funding were it not for the tax bung (transfer of wealth from poor to shareholders). These projects provide some energy resilience for the company and customers but they don't save them money.

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