The New Economy and Economic Growth in Europe and the US

The strong productivity growth of the US and Scandinavian countries in Europe in the 1990s has raised the question whether the ICT sector - information and com­ munication technology (that is computers plus telecommunications plus digital services)-is the new driving engine of high growth in leading OECD countries. Judging by the empirical evidence for the US, including a new study by McKinsey which gives mixed evidence, it is still too early to clearly dismiss Robert G. Gordon's hypothesis that