---
canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/event/the-us-manufacturing-productivity-slowdown/"
title: "The U.S. Manufacturing Productivity Slowdown"
author:
  name: "CSLS"
  url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/"
date_published: "2026-06-12T08:47:57+00:00"
date_modified: "2026-07-17T07:08:28+00:00"
post_type: "csls_event"
summary: "Why has productivity growth in U.S. manufacturing collapsed over the past two decades? This CSLS webinar brings together insights from two new International Productivity Monitor articles that examine the causes and consequences of the slowdown. Robert Gordon argues that rising import competition, declining investment, and weakening innovation ecosystems have undermined manufacturing dynamism, while Jeremy Pearce […]"
event_category:
  - "Big Ideas seminar series"
featured_image: ""
status: "publish"
---

# The U.S. Manufacturing Productivity Slowdown

Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/event/the-us-manufacturing-productivity-slowdown/

**25**
Jun

Big Ideas seminar series

# The U.S. Manufacturing Productivity Slowdown

Thursday, June 25, 2026
12:00 pm - 1:15 pm EST
Online

## Event description

Why has productivity growth in U.S. manufacturing collapsed over the past two decades? This CSLS webinar brings together insights from two new *International Productivity Monitor* articles that examine the causes and consequences of the slowdown.

Robert Gordon argues that rising import competition, declining investment, and weakening innovation ecosystems have undermined manufacturing dynamism, while Jeremy Pearce shows that the slowdown is broad-based across firms and industries, and linked to declining returns to research and development. Together, these articles provide a timely assessment of the structural forces reshaping manufacturing productivity and what they might imply for the future.

## Speakers

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![Robert Gordon](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/robert.png)

### Robert Gordon

Northwestern University

Robert Gordon is the Stanley G. Harris Professor Emeritus at Northwestern University, where he has had a distinguished career. He is the author of [The Rise and Fall of American Growth](https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691147727/the-rise-and-fall-of-american-growth). He is also a Fellow of the Econometric Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, and a member of the NBER’s Business Cycle Dating Committee.

![Jeremy Pearce](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/jeremy.png)

### Jeremy Pearce

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Jeremy Pearce is a Research Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he has worked since 2023. His research combines microdata and theoretical models to study firm dynamics, productivity, innovation, and economic growth. He was previously a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Chicago, where he earned his Ph.D. in Economics. He also holds a B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

## Resources

[Gordon and Ryu IPM article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_Gordon_Final.pdf)

[Gordon seminar slides](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Gordon_IPM_slides_June_2026.pdf)

[Lashkari and Pearce IPM article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_Pearce_Final.pdf)

[Pearce seminar slides](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Pearce_IPM_slides_June_2026.pdf)