« Spontaneous Property Rights | Main | A Good Word for Narrow, Material Selfishness» Don Boudreaux
August 13, 2004
Work at a Better Explanation
Don Boudreaux
Historian Niall Ferguson has an interesting op-ed in today’s Los Angeles Times. In it, we learn just how much less time Europeans spend working compared to Americans. Along the way as he relates these data, Ferguson offers some reasons to explain the fact – a fact that has become much more pronounced over the past 25 years. Differences in marginal tax rates is one that Ferguson mentions, along with government-enforced restrictions on the maximum number of hours anyone can work per week. Also mentioned is the fact that American employers can – compared to their European counterparts – much more easily fire lazy employees.
These reasons strike me as pretty sound explanations for why the average German worker works 22% fewer hours per year than does the average American worker, and the average French worker toils 32% fewer hours.
But Ferguson ends his op-ed curiously: despite these strong explanations mentioned earlier in his op-ed, he concludes that the likely explanation for this difference in work patterns is the fact that more Americans than Europeans attend church. Apart from an allusion to Max Weber’s protestant-ethic thesis, Ferguson offers no further justification for identifying Americans’ greater church attendance as a reason why Americans work more than Europeans.
Curious.
Posted by Don Boudreaux in Standard of Living | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d834518ccc69e200d83456ebe669e2
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Work at a Better Explanation:
» Mr. Ferguson's Data from Truck and Barter
Via AL Daily and Cafe Hayek, we find Niall Ferguson insisting that 1) the unemployment rate in the US has averaged 4.6% over the past 10 years, and that 2) higher religiosity causes Americans to work more than some Europeans. The first claim:There are,... [Read More]
Tracked on Aug 13, 2004 5:11:28 PM
» MP3 File Search from The Mp3Database
Download mp3 audio music and song lyrics. Mp3 search engine to music links for free download ... Quick Database Search search in 250209 mp3 entries ...
[Read More]
Tracked on Mar 26, 2006 5:32:31 AM
» The Ugly Game from as a tolerant
as a tolerant multicultural society, but is struggling to boot racism out of [Read More]
Tracked on Mar 29, 2006 10:48:40 PM
» Full Albums Archive from MP3 Album Finder
Enter Artist or Song or Album name to search: ... Download VA - –усска€ коллекци€ 4 «олотой шл€гер 70 х (1973 1979) mp3 ... [Read More]
Tracked on Apr 5, 2006 1:20:07 PM
» MP3 Downloads, Full Albums, Latest Hits, MP3 Search from Global Media Search Engine
Big Mp3 Archive, Mp3 Search, Mp3 Albums, Mp3 Songs, Mp3 Software, Mp3 Traffic Exchange, Advertising... [Read More]
Tracked on Apr 5, 2006 1:37:43 PM
» Finance Search Online: paul n hopkins 2c farmers insurance from Business Finance Online
Business Finance Online Product/Service Directory. Search for business finance related products and services by browsing the directory of business finance ... [Read More]
Tracked on Apr 28, 2006 7:30:51 AM
» A Shared View of the Battlespace from to develop the
tool with far-reaching applications across the command-and-control and intelligence communities, CJMTK is used to develop the map [Read More]
Tracked on Apr 28, 2006 6:10:34 PM
» Europages, European directory from Open Directory Project
Multilingual european business directory, 600000 european companies, european company directory and business opportunities, trade leads, ... [Read More]
Tracked on Apr 28, 2006 10:21:25 PM
» Library of Congress WWW/Z39.50 Gateway from Harvard Seismology: Centroid Moment Tensor Catalog
Contents: Search Library of Congress Catalog | Search Other Catalogs | About the Z39.50 ... Library of Congress Online Catalog. Simple Search (any keyword) ... [Read More]
Tracked on Apr 29, 2006 10:42:20 PM
» Car Bombs Kill 10, Wound Nearly 80 in Iraq from Car Bombings
of Seven Car Bombings Kill 10, Wound Nearly 80 in Baghdad; Other Violence Kills 15 More [Read More]
Tracked on May 3, 2006 4:39:28 PM
» All services on the Internet from Internet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
All services on the Internet make use of defined application protocols. ... Similar to how the commercial Internet providers connect via Internet exchange ... [Read More]
Tracked on May 20, 2006 1:28:18 AM
» Jewelry Shop from Jewelry making, Tips from The Jeweler's bench - Jewelry making
The Gem and Jewelry World's foremost Resource on The Internet. ... The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography. Add Ganoksin Power Search to your website ...
[Read More]
Tracked on May 20, 2006 1:50:08 AM
» India - Copies of Holy Quran burnt in Chhattisgarh amid riots from of Chhattisgarh
led to a vicious communal onslaught where the minority Muslim was targeted.... [Read More]
Tracked on May 27, 2006 12:32:00 PM
» What have you done for me lately? from Hillary Clinton.
Hillary Clinton. You could do worse. [Read More]
Tracked on May 28, 2006 8:25:11 AM
» Internal Audit: Resources for Internal Auditors from Audit Company
Internal Audit - is the Web portal and online community for the internal audit profession provides free audit work programs, ICQ's, checklists, ...
[Read More]
Tracked on Jun 7, 2006 12:52:24 AM
» Microsys Computing, Inc. Releases Electronic Data Interchange Solutions for its MicroMD Practice Management System from
and Increase Revenues for Physician Group Practices (PRWEB Jun 1, 2006)
Trackback URI: http://www.prweb.com/zingpr.php/U3F1YS1JbnNlLUhhbGYtUHJvZi1IYWxmLVplcm8=
[Read More]
Tracked on Jun 8, 2006 8:14:41 AM
» Annuity IQ Announces Web Based Platform for Variable Annuity Information from URL: http://prweb.com/pingpr.php/WmV0YS1Qcm9mLUluc2UtRW1wdC1JbnNlLVplcm8=
a popular destination for both consumers and brokers now offers complete variable annuity information in a easy to use web based format. (PRWEB [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 13, 2006 8:55:41 PM
» consolidate loan student
from bad credit loan
Loans Home Equity Loans - Home Mortgage Student Loans [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 18, 2006 2:11:18 PM
» Bush apologizes to L.A. Times reporter
(AP)
from teases members
press corps, apologized Wednesday after he poked fun at a reporter for wearing sunglasses without [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 20, 2006 5:29:03 PM
» United States Attorney's Office Crime-Mapping Analysis System from This project
used for Project Safe Neighborhoods. This project uses GIS software to spatially track, display and analyze crimes in the county of Philadelphia, [Read More]
Tracked on Aug 10, 2006 7:02:10 PM
» Ultrasound Affects Development of Murine Brains - MedPage Today from womb causes brain
of Murine Brains MedPage Today- 10 hours ago By Michael Smith, MedPage Today Staff Writer. NEW HAVEN, [Read More]
Tracked on Aug 14, 2006 2:07:25 PM
