The article explores whether the recent slowdown in the growth of real R&D expenditures can explain the productivity slowdown. It looks at what needs to be explained, how R&D could have contributed to the slowdown, and what happened to R&D in the relevant period. The researchers found that the slowdown in productivity growth is probably not solely due to the slowdown in R&D spending. However, the process of reaching this conclusion provides valuable insights that can help us understand the relationship between R&D and productivity.