[rqebmm]

I'm not an economist, but one thing I've wondered is "how much productivity has been added since the 60s purely by adding women to the workforce"? Naively it would seem that almost doubling the available workforce would have large temporary effects on the economy until that became the norm.

An alternative theory posed by one of my favorite economists[0] is that administration of public companies under the "maximize shareholder value" doctrine is finally coming home to roost. By prioritizing short-term profits in favor of long-term investment, companies have slowed their own growth for the last ~30 years.

[0] http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/434485-running-the-company-f...

[AtomicOrbital]

`by adding women to the workforce` the family is exposed to twice the chance of a breadwinner loosing their job, increased cost due to childcare/a 2nd car ... also both partners working too often results in greater appetite for debt - these risks are avoidable yet human nature tends otherwise