French workers fight for the right to be lazy

[DanS]

I fail to see how you arrive at the conclusion that French productivity growth will slow, do you have any rationale or data to back up your supposition?

For your information French hourly productivity went from 112% of the US level in 1990 to 114% in 1996 and 120% in 2002.

The rationale for that opinion is that there are few barriers to the spread and assumption of superior technologies and methods across borders. We're talking time horizons of several decades.

[DanS]

The French are more productive than Americans, as are most "lazy" Europeans with their generous vacation times.

Most lazy Europeans are less productive than Americans on an hourly basis. See el freako's list on page 6 (with a 30 post/page view). The big lazy countries above the US in these terms are France and Germany.

[MikeH]

If we have a high standard of living, and work less hours so enjoy our lives more, who cares about who's more productive per hour?

Quality of life != Quantity of material posessions.

[alva]

How many VCR's does one really need? ( yes Ming, we know you have six. )

[DanS]

You live in Germany, right Alva?

[alva]

A bit to left but close yeah. ( Belgium )

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by MikeH
If we have a high standard of living, and work less hours so enjoy our lives more, who cares about who's more productive per hour?

Quality of life != Quantity of material posessions.

Hey, you are the one who wants me to get a mini beer fridge .

[alva]

That's not a luxury, that's a necessity.

[DanS]

Has there been a drumbeat from the Belgian business community about Belgium losing global competitiveness?

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by DanS
However, for the last couple of decades, the decrease has taken a pause in the US

That's a bit of an understatement. It's actually gone into reverse, and the 40-hour week is no longer the norm. IIRC, the average is now 45 hours.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Vesayen
I have an OVERWHELMING hatred of France and its people

Why are you this stupid?

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

But 50 hours a week is close to half your time.

But not there. Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and thermonuclear warfare.

Add in your commute time and time preparing for work, and you're over the top.

[el freako]

Originally posted by DanS

Most lazy Europeans are less productive than Americans on an hourly basis.

As this has been true for over a century I fail to see how you can make judgements on what is going to happen based on a snapshot of what the situation is now.

The gap between europe and america in hourly productivity has been falling since the second world war (and may have started to fall before but the depression and WW2 make trends hard to follow in that period)

Originally posted by DanS
See el freako's list on page 6 (with a 30 post/page view). The big lazy countries above the US in these terms are France and Germany.

How 'dynamic' and 'open to change' a country is seems to make little difference to the rate of catch-up with america in productivity, for example in 1990 Germany's GDP per hour was 84% of the US level and Britian's was 77% - both have since seen significant increases(to 104% and 90%), however during that time Britian was percieved to be far more open than Germany.

Now this doesn't seem to fit with orthodox theories does it? but a good scientific adage is that when the data disagrees with the theory it is usually the theory that is incorrect - unfortunately good science is a rarity in economics (not surprising as it is such a politically-charged subject)

It is possible that the current orthodoxy is as wrong about how open an economy needs to be to benefit from high productivity growth as the keynesians were about the ability to 'fine-tune' an economy.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Sikander
It is cheaper to work your people into the ground with overtime than it is to hire enough of them to do the job without undue overtime and few days off.

I am not sure that is the case. The productivity of a worker does not increase linearly with time at work. The unit productivity stays fairly constant for awhile, IIRC at around 6 - 7 hours a day, then drops off. That means paying overtime to get extra work done isn't a good idea, you are better off getting some part-time help.

[DanS]

The gap between europe and america in hourly productivity has been falling since the second world war (and may have started to fall before but the depression and WW2 make trends hard to follow in that period)

And I suggest that this likely will occur the other way around too. I'm not saying that France can't grow its productivity to 130% of the US or whatever, but that I consider it more likely that France will revert to the mean among economically developed countries. That likelihood in itself should inform the French about the context of the move to a 35 hour work week.

It is possible that the current orthodoxy is as wrong about how open an economy needs to be to benefit from high productivity growth as the keynesians were about the ability to 'fine-tune' an economy.

It's possible. It's also possible that the full impact of those changes is delayed. I should be clear that even if the US is on the whole open to change, this change impacts only a small portion of the economy acutely.