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Economic Report of the President

Report - The American Presidency Project

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vanced technology and will <strong>the</strong>refore increase <strong>the</strong> efficiency <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>capital stock.During <strong>the</strong> decade <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1960s <strong>the</strong> capital-labor ratio grew at anaverage rate <strong>of</strong> about 3 percent per year; over <strong>the</strong> last 5 years, however,<strong>the</strong> ratio has remained roughly constant. This development hasbeen due to both <strong>the</strong> slower growth in <strong>the</strong> capital stock and to <strong>the</strong>more rapid growth in employment and hours worked (Table 9). The1974-79 deceleration in <strong>the</strong> growth <strong>of</strong> capital is somewhat at oddswith <strong>the</strong> rough stability in <strong>the</strong> investment share <strong>of</strong> GNP over <strong>the</strong>same period and requires some explanation. A greater share <strong>of</strong> investmentis now being spent on relatively short-lived assets. Theratio <strong>of</strong> investment in equipment to investment in nonresidentialstructures has increased in recent years. The result is that each dollar<strong>of</strong> gross investment now yields less net investment because <strong>the</strong> capitalstock is depreciating more rapidly.TABLE 9.—The investment share, and growth in <strong>the</strong> capital-labor ratio, 1949-79Period1949-59Real business fixedinvestment aspercent <strong>of</strong> realGNP 1 9.1Net capitalstock(nonresidential)sPercent change, average annual rate(end <strong>of</strong> year to end <strong>of</strong> year)Employment3Hours 3CapitalemploymentratioCapitalhoursratio4.01.10.72.93.21959-69 ....9.84.61.61.23.03.31969-7410.54.21.2.52.93.71974-7910.33.03.12.8-.1.21 Average annual investment-GNP ratio, in percent.2 Net fixed nonresidential business capital, 1972 dollars, end <strong>of</strong> year.3 For private business, all persons. End <strong>of</strong> year calculated as average <strong>of</strong> year's fourth quarter and following year's firstquarter.Sources: Department <strong>of</strong> Commerce (Bureau <strong>of</strong> <strong>Economic</strong>, Analysis) and Department <strong>of</strong> Labor (Bureau <strong>of</strong> Labor Statistics).To restore <strong>the</strong> growth <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> capital stock per worker to that <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>1960s would require that <strong>the</strong> share <strong>of</strong> investment in GNP rise by atleast 1 percentage point from its recent average <strong>of</strong> about 10 Vz percent.Such a development should, at a minimum, restore <strong>the</strong> productivitygrowth lost from this source. Fur<strong>the</strong>r improvement would requireyet more investment.Apart from <strong>the</strong> necessity <strong>of</strong> improving <strong>the</strong> productivity growth rate,<strong>the</strong>re are o<strong>the</strong>r reasons why future economic policy should encourageincreased investment. Last year's <strong>Report</strong> discussed <strong>the</strong>se needs indetail. The average age <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> capital stock at <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> 1979 was7.1 years. This suggests that much <strong>of</strong> our plant and equipment wasput in place when oil prices were much lower than <strong>the</strong>y are now.Higher energy prices have shortened <strong>the</strong> service life <strong>of</strong> older and lessenergy-efficient capital and made it in <strong>the</strong> national interest to speedup its replacement. The magnitude <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se investments is difficult to71

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