> there is more to an economy that processor speeds ... I frankly do not know how much increase in modern hardware capabilities contributes to the productivity of the economy.

In industrial times, you would be right. However since the "information revolution", a huge amount of productivity gains can be directly attributable to transistors. Sure it started with improving simple calculators, but then came spreadsheets, industrial CAD models, instantaneous global communication, remote teams, global branding and a whole lot more.

In fact, it's pretty fair to say, that nearly every standard of living improvement in western countries since roughly 1980 can be attributable to the transistor.