`NIST competitiveness vs. productivity misunderstanding`

Tom's review-committee visit to NIST (Gaithersburg) at which he publicly challenged their use of "competitiveness." Anchors the distinction between productivity (efficiency of production) and competitiveness (foreign-exchange-rate-driven externalities).

Who can tell me, to finish up our economics lectures, the difference between productivity and competitiveness? If you don't know, it's okay — I went to a review committee about two or three years ago at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is in Gaithersburg Maryland. NIST is the Department of Commerce's laboratory. It's one of the best federal laboratories in the United States — we have over 700 federal laboratories and I consider NIST to be one of the top two or three. We were reviewing their manufacturing programs and they got up the first morning and told us that they are the laboratory for competitiveness in U.S. industry. After the talk I said, "do you mean competitiveness, or do you mean productivity?" "Oh no, we mean competitiveness." I said, "then I don't believe you," in front of all these people. That's typical me.