Euro zone: Who is suffering from the low productivity gains?
Productivity gains have been low in the euro zone since 2011. Which group of economic agents are suffering the most from these low productivity gains? If productivity gains are low, in principle: Households are negatively affected by small real wage increases; that was the case until 2017; Companies are negatively affected if households succeed in obtaining real wage increases that exceed productivity gains; this has been the case since 2018; Governments are negatively affected if low tax revenues (due to low potential growth) requires them to forgo useful public spending, which is the case. All things considered, the biggest loser from the low productivity gains in the euro zone are currently the government and companies.