Let's see productivity growth figures then. We aren't destroying jobs with productivity (yet), we are funnelling more and more money into management and finance, while worker bees get paid less. This is partly due to bad economic policy, and partly due to the threat of outsourcing (which should be easing off, now that China has hit the turning point).

Bad economic policy - the neo-liberals seem to believe in some stupid stuff like the Efficient Market Hypothesis, and don't accept The Theory of the Second Best as consequential. While the EMH is true in a sense, it's also used as an excuse to not refine economic theory. Some non-mainstream economists (such as the Australian Steve Keen) realised that excessive debt was going to destabilise the economy. But the Reserves didn't believe it, so they set policy, and while the market responds it might not be to correct the Fed's mistakes but to take advantage of the bailouts. Then there's The Theory of the Second Best - that one step close to a totally free market may actually leave the economy worse off, not better, despite a free market being the (theoretical) global maximum.