September 3, 2007
WEBER SMILES (via Jim Yates):
Study: US workers are world's most productive (Bradley S. Klapper, 9/03/07, Associated Press)
American workers stay longer in the office, at the factory, or on the farm than their counterparts in Europe and most other rich nations, and they produce more per person over the year.They also get more done per hour than everyone but the Norwegians, according to a UN report that said the United States "leads the world in labor productivity." The report was released in Geneva today, which is Labor Day in the United States.
The average US worker produces $63,885 of wealth per year, more than their counterparts in all other countries, the International Labor Organization said in its report. [...]
The United States, according to the report, also beats all 27 nations in the European Union, Japan, and Switzerland in the amount of wealth created per hour of work - a second key measure of productivity.
We're too busy creating wealth to fret about redistributing it.
MORE (via Kevin Whited):
Flight of the Wingnuts: How a cult hijacked American politics (Jonathan Chait, 09.03.07, The New Republic)
American politics has been hijacked by a tiny coterie of right-wing economic extremists, some of them ideological zealots, others merely greedy, a few of them possibly insane. The scope of their triumph is breathtaking. Over the course of the last three decades, they have moved from the right-wing fringe to the commanding heights of the national agenda. Notions that would have been laughed at a generation ago--that cutting taxes for the very rich is the best response to any and every economic circumstance or that it is perfectly appropriate to turn the most rapacious and self-interested elements of the business lobby into essentially an arm of the federal government--are now so pervasive, they barely attract any notice.
While it's awfully generous of the Left to cede all the credit for the thirty-year boom that has accompanied the End of History, the American people themselves deserve most of it, for what they've achieved since being liberated from fifty years of failed liberal economic dogma. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 3, 2007 7:01 AM
I figure that to really be doing well, you need $100,000 of revenue per employee. As in so many areas, it's not that we're good; it's just that we're better than everyone else.
Also, note that the mean hours worked/year is only 1804. We're loafing.
Posted by: Ibid at September 3, 2007 7:36 AMIbid,
Perhaps the mean hours worked/year is 1804, but when you subtract all of the time we spend playing on the internet and joking around with workmates then factor in the early Monday slow start and the Friday afternoon slow down (don't even try contacting a state, city or county manager on a Friday afternoon) and it's way less. We produce more with even less effort than you think.
The last time I saw the word 'coterie' in print, it was Sen. William Jenner calling Dean Acheson, George Marshall, and Harry Truman communists.
Chait continues to bloom into complete moon-battiness. Does he have to wipe off his computer screen after each piece?
Posted by: jim hamlen at September 3, 2007 10:46 AMIf they could just find a way to link Leo Strauss to the "coterie" of economists, TNR would be set!
They've become so funny lately, a person can't help but wonder if they've intentionally become a humor mag.
Posted by: kevin whited at September 3, 2007 2:41 PMIt is amazing what working harder and working smarter will get you in this world.
Posted by: Kurt Brouwer at September 3, 2007 4:26 PMoj,
After reading the article several days ago, I really questioned the accuracy of the data. Since I've seen no updates since then, I'm at a loss to understand the French involvement/ranking in this and the previous years rankings.
Afer all, France is known for over-rated cheeses/wines, planes nobody will be buying,a HUGE public sector payroll and a State supported 19th Century agricutural system..
"Seven years ago, French workers produced over a dollar more on average than their American counterparts. The country led the United States in hourly productivity from 1994 to 2003."
From my purely "seat of the pants" thinking, has there ever been, realistically (excluding the Carter years)a time when we didn't lead France?
Well, maybe a couple of years when all the economic idiots assumed the Japanese model would subsume us. Yeah, that was a good prediction.
Mike
France achieves such high productivity by maintaining such high levels of unemployment. No one even remotely marginal can get work. We employ such by the millions.
Posted by: oj at September 3, 2007 11:22 PM