Solow paradox
The Solow paradox is the coexistence of widespread computing and weak measured productivity growth.
Explanation
Technology alone is not the same as a productive system. Firms may need to redesign workflows, train people, build complementary tools, and spread new practices before the gains appear; some benefits may also be poorly measured.
AI may repeat this pattern: striking capabilities can arrive before organizations learn to use them at scale. The paradox is therefore a warning about lags and measurement, not proof that the technology has no economic value.
Related timeline entries
- AI and Entrepreneurship: What is Really Happening? (30 September 2026)
- The Macroeconomic Effect of AI: Sizing the Software Engineering Channel (14 September 2026)
- Europe 2031: What getting AI wrong means for us (11 June 2026)
- Forecasts of AI & Economic Growth (6 November 2025)
- Economics and Transformative AI (2 October 2025)
- AI as Normal Technology (15 April 2025)
- The Productivity J-Curve: How Intangibles Complement General Purpose Technologies (January 2021)
- General Purpose Technologies: Engines of Growth? (January 1995)