David Frum ping.
It’s wrong to be French.
This is a post Hillary presidency view of America’s future.
Sigh.
I am so glad to see someone say this. That French workers are slightly more productive per hour worked than Americans is one of the most misleading economic statistics, and this article shows why. In addition to the problems at this restaurant, in less labor-intensive work there is a huge incentive to substitute machines for workers. Those who remain are very productive; those who jobs are destroyed have productivity of zero, but aren't counted.
This is a brilliant reform. France is about to see its economy turbocharged.
One thing I like about the French system is we idle a lot in the american workplace or create ‘work’ not related to the job at hand.
For example I’ve worked in sales in the past, getting paid only commission. 90% of the sales were during about 10 hours of the week. So I ended up only working 15 hours a week for a few years, and my income was about the same as my old income working 35 hours a week. When I was there I was happy, well rested, could understand the customer better.
It felt strange though like I didn’t actually have a job! Well in other jobs I’ve worked in my life I’ve seen similiar although not as extreme examples where people could work say half as much and make 80% of the money, by only focusing on the high value work.