The standard of living of a nation ultimately depends on its level of productivity. There is currently a debate raging in the United States of the drivers of productivity. Some feel that information technology has given business a new tool for raising productivity significantly over historic levels, while others think that the late 1990s were simply an exceptional period of rapid productivity gains rather than the beginning of a long term trend. What is the substance of this debate? What kind of evidence can be used to prove or disprove the "new productivity paradigm"? Think about things going on in the economy such as the rise of artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, digital assistants and their likely impact on the economy and on the kinds of jobs that workers will have in the future.