It is sometimes easy-t? overtook the importance of productivity. National gures are often reported in the media. They may seem to be ho-hum; there's nothing glamorous about them to get our atten- tion. But make no mistake; they are key economic indicators barometers. if you will. that affect everybody. How? High produc- tivity and high standard of living go hand-in-hand. If a country becomes more service-based, as the United States has become, if some (but not all) highproductivity manufacturing jobs are replaced by lower-productivity service jobs. that makes it more dif- cult to support a high standard of living. Productivity gains can offset inationary pressures related to wage increases. Productivity increases result in lower costs per unit. Those savings not only generate higher prots, they also help pay for wage increases. Productivity levels are also inliportant for industries and com panies. For companies. a higher productivity relative to their com- petitors gives them a competitive advantage in the marketplace. With a higher productivity. they can afford to undercut competi- tors' prices to gain market share or charge the same prices but realize greater prots! For an indirstry. higher relative productivity means it is less likely to be supplanted by foreign industry. Questions 1. Why is high productivity important for a nation? 2. Why do you suppose that service jobs have lower productivity than manufacturing jobs? 3. How can a company gain a competitive advantage by having higher productivity than its competitors have