The Importance of Productivity

The best way to think about productivity is actually to make it personal. So per hour of input, I'm getting a certain return from that. It makes logical sense for me to say, I should do the thing which burns me the most money. If we're digging up lithium, I should make batteries here. Well, why would the government take people out of otherwise successful, useful industries and jobs? The kickstart of the currency was never a smart idea - it was always dumb, right?