Salt industry productivity setting the pace

With federal spending skyrocketing out of control with its pent-up inflationary impact and national economic indicators garnering above-the-fold front page coverage almost daily, Americans' economic anxieties are on the rise and the nation's economic health in grave jeopardy. Only reawakening long-term growth in national productivity can hope to stem government's spending urge.

Yet the Conference Board examines total factor productivity since 1995 in its Total Economy Database (Table 11, page 15). It's discouraging reading: from 1995 until 2005, total factor productivity rose only 0.6% per year and only 0.1% since then. (I could put in the federal spending graph, but that would be too painful in comparison). Clearly, we'll have to do better.

The salt industry, however, HAS been doing better. Measured in terms of tons of salt produced per work-hour, salt industry productivity rose by a third over the period 1994-2009, according to sales and labor employment data collected by the Salt Institute, about 4.5% per year. In 1994, each worker produced 2.16 tons of salt every hour; in 2008, the latest year we have labor data on, the salt industry produced 2.86 tons per work-hour. Salt workers are producing greater value as well. In 1994, each hour worked in the salt industry generated $79.93 (adjust that for inflation, that's $115.71 in 2009 dollars). Today, a salt industry worker generates $161.53 in revenues, up an inflation-reduced 39%.

Salt companies are setting the standard for productivity growth for the American economy.