Name: Anonymous 2011-10-16 0:50
While watching yet another presidential candidate promise how he would stimulate the economy to create more jobs, I found myself wondering why nobody is talking about an obvious solution: restricting the supply of labor by cutting the working hours.
Given the current productivity levels and 5 billion people of working age on the planet, it does not seem possible to give everyone a 40-hours/week job doing something useful. There is a precedent for reducing working hours. We went from 70 or more to 40 a while ago. We also eliminated child labor. Was it a coincidence that real wages went up and the middle class got created since then?
Why is 20-hour work week a bad idea, or a good one?
Given the current productivity levels and 5 billion people of working age on the planet, it does not seem possible to give everyone a 40-hours/week job doing something useful. There is a precedent for reducing working hours. We went from 70 or more to 40 a while ago. We also eliminated child labor. Was it a coincidence that real wages went up and the middle class got created since then?
Why is 20-hour work week a bad idea, or a good one?