With no laptop, I had no deadlines or ability to be work productive so I really had no excuse for not helping out with the house and kids.

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The technology, and our ever-improving ability to put it to productive use, will continue driving real gains in living standards.

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Last, but certainly not least, we have to look also at the social impact of these patients, who will regain the ability to live a normal social life, regain the ability to be employed and be productive in society.

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As economist Robert Shapiro noted in a recent Progressive Policy Institute study, these provisions entail significant administrative and compliance costs and, more damagingly from the standpoint of economic growth, undercut markets' ability to allocate capital to its most productive uses.

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"Our program is really designed for people to come into the program, to learn the skills they need and to help place them in their community, help them find a job, hopefully find a career, and really be a productive member of society, " says Joan Volpe, Ability Beyond Disability's vice president.

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Some will exchange all of their productive effort for the goods of others, while some will shift some of their consumptive ability to others wrought by their own production through saving and investment.

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