Both articles assert that investment spending continues to be a major factor pushing forward growth. Actually, investment spending has been declining slightly as a share of GDP since the second quarter of 1998, which means that it has been a small drag on economic growth. The gap between investment demand in actual dollars and investment demand in 1992 dollars is attributable to the Commerce Department's quality adjustments for computers, a major component of investment. This article reports on the Dow Jones industrial average crossing 11,000 points for the first time. While this statement is clearly true, it is worth noting that the vast majority of economists view this growth in spending, and the implied decline in saving, as being very bad for the economy.
Most economists argue that savings lead to more investment.
From this standpoint, the huge increase in consumer spending in the last few years has had the exact same impact as a huge increase in the government deficit. Both articles, following Greenspan, discuss the productivity boom of the last three years. Productivity is a highly cyclical variable, which is why economists typically measure it from the peak of one business cycle to the peak of the next cycle. Using this method, and correcting for changes in measurement, productivity growth has averaged 1.1 percent annually since the last business cycle peak in 1989. This is exactly the same rate of productivity growth the economy has experienced since the slowdown began in 1973.