ABSTRACT
Economic growth is a condition for income growth. Growth results from the combination of an increase in the volume of production factors and changes in their productivity. The slowdown in economic growth is, in the long term, one of the main facts that colors the economic and social balances. The increase in underemployment is the main consequence of the deceleration of growth. It is undeniable that the reduction of working hours theoretically slows down activity. In addition to the technical elements of the diagnosis, two different attitudes appear to be fundamental in resolving the dilemmas according to the degree of trust accorded respectively to market mechanisms and public intervention. The key variable will be the pace of productivity gains. Productivity gains have long been viewed as essentially exogenous from the intervention of changes, or providential or independent of the balance of the economic growth regime, associated with innovations of products or autonomous productive processes.
