Capital Formation and Economic Policy

Barry P. Bosworth

Barry P. Bosworth Senior Fellow Emeritus - Economic Studies

Discussants: Lawrence H. Summers and

Lawrence H. Summers Charles W. Eliot University Professor and President Emeritus - Harvard University

Robert M. Solow

RMS

Robert M. Solow

THE CURRENT DISCUSSION of capital formation in the United States reflects
a general belief that investment has been inadequate during the 1970s
and that this shortfall explains a large part of the current economic
difficulties. The productivity slowdown, in particular, is often blamed
on the failure of investment to keep the capital stock growing as fast as
the number of workers.