Visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics Web site, www.bls.gov , and select DATA TOOLS in the menu at the top of the webpage. Then select the U.S. Economy at a Glance to find quarterly growth rates of productivity for the last five quarters. Or you may go directly by clicking the link such as http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.us.htm . Is the average of those rates higher or lower than the 1.5 percent average annual growth rate of productivity during the 1973-1995 period or the 2.8 percent average annual growth rate of productivity during the 1995- 2010 mentioned in the text on p.166? Can you tell if the U.S. economy has shown higher productivity growth recently? After answering that, evaluate the following statement. "Productivity often rises during economic expansions and falls during economic recessions." Do you agree or not? Why or why not? Explain with your forecast about our economy in the near future, say, in the next 6 months and/or in a year. Are you optimistic or pessimistic about our economy in the near future based on the recent productivity? (You may find interesting discussions below: "Americans Turn Pessimistic Over Near-Term Outlook For U.S. Economy: IBD/TIPP Poll": https://www.investors.com/news/economy/us-economy-outlookdims-coronavirus-cases-surge-nov-2020-ibd-tipp/