Growth and productivity : are they obsolete concepts ?

The concepts of growth and productivity, such as they are, have technical and historical limitations. They are well adapted to a certain method of production and consumption which they have inherited from Fordism. They are still useful and interesting in the so-called ‘post-Ford’ economy characterised by the growing domination of tertiary activities. However, these tools ought to be put into perspective, completed and, in certain cases, abandoned with no regrets.