a n a ly s i s labour and social justice the question of productivity Controversies and clarification Stefan Guga(Syndex) 2020 translated from Romanian Over the past years, a consensus has emerged in Romanian public discourse that wages in Romania are growing too rapidly in comparison to productivity. This has proven to be the strongest argument against wage growth of any kind. This study provides detailed insight into the issue of productivity, starting at the theoretical level and extending to the relationship between productivity and wages, as one sees in Romania today. At present, labour costs in Romania are so low that a genuine macroeconomic threat cannot realistically be envisioned. In the medium­and especially in the long-run, things can nonetheless change, which is why public debate should focus on the true problem at hand: increasing productivity, and not limiting wage growth.