Thanks, these are both excellent points.  I have rarely focused on the GDP/employee level, but instead GDP/Capita.  I wonder why that is growing in the US, and if there is any implication resulting from that.  Your question may drive me back to reminding myself what is an employee (part time, full time)etc, etc, and just better understanding those figures.

The same is really true for me on the productivity numbers, in the sense of understanding what the numbers really mean, with this movement into service industries.  How does the productivity of the whole fiancial community figure into this--how do you measure an investment banker, a venture capitalist, individual private equity (angel investment) investors into this equation?  Unfortunately it will have to wait.

Do you have any comment on why if productivity is the same, US vs EU (and I agree that is statistically true), why the gdp per capita and per employee would be so much higher?  I think it's in the range of 15-20% higher, is it not?  Maybe it's American's moving into higher value jobs more quickly, like technology and the financial services?