Big Tech has not lived up to its promise

It is tempting to dismiss

the mass layoffs and collapsing stock prices in the tech sector

as just another blip in the tech boom-and-bust cycle. Technology companies may make up 36 per cent of the S&P 500, but they represent only 0.3 per cent of workers.

But the fact that productivity in the United States is also falling is worth noting, and suggests that what is happening in tech could mean something much deeper is wrong.