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Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

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Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#391

Post by tastythrowaway2 »

jackcosgrove wrote: post #205
tastythrowaway2 wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there is a correlation but that does not mean the jobs are elastic. it is not reasonable to assume that higher paid workers can simply switch jobs or even career paths simply to trade available free time for lower compensation.

Yes it is reasonable. Bankers and consultants move to industry, lawyers and accountants move in house, engineers move to maintain legacy projects. People quit their careers and work for non-profits or become teachers. This happens all the time.

My admittedly SWAG is that this happens more by chance than by choice. this is an important distinction.

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#392

Post by ionised »

k__ wrote: post #323
yodsanklai wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When you call cust sup in Europe, the service is way worst. I remember a sign at a Mac Donald's in New York that said something like "if the waiter doesn't smile, you get a free burger". In Europe you may not get the forced smile, but it doesn't mean the service is worse. Overall, I'd say the service is slightly better in the US, but you can see it's totally fake and I find it a little bit disturbing.

Most of the time I feel like US or UK people are fake, because of all the forced smalltalk. Yes, this is their culture and I respect it, but I just don't feel comfortable with it :/

Never heard the UK accused of forced small talk before.

The US on the other hand...

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#393

Post by ionised »

RandomName2020 wrote: post #103
jypepin wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a very light analysis from me, so might not be fully true, but I live in the US, now in Europe, and in Canada before that. You could also say Canada is kind of in the middle. Well, maybe correlation doesn't imply causation in that case but here is what I can see: - US > Canada > Europe in terms of opportunities, be it starting salary, end-of-career salaries, and everything in the middle such as promotions, perso…

> it's harder to move from a class to another compared to the US. Not true: social mobility in US is lower than in Europe and Canada.

Yeah, it baffles me when people bring this up.

US social mobility and wealth inequality are among the worst in the developed world.

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#394

Post by ionised »

coriny wrote: post #249
digikata wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it had great (and I mean multi-generational enduring American Dream great) PR from after WWII thru at least the late 60's.

The post-WW2 soft power strategy by the US was awesome and extremely effective. Sadly, it seems that by the 70s the pentagon had become solely obsessed with the projection of hard power. I personally reckon this has a huge amount to do with the decline of the US's popularity around the globe in the subsequent decades.

As an outside observer and frequent critic of US foreign policy I would agree.

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#395

Post by ionised »

exadeci wrote: post #363
ajmurmann wrote: post #32

I find it astonishing how positive Bloomberg tries to spin this: People earn a wider range of incomes in the U.S., so “workers have an incentive to try harder to move up the job ladder because a promotion is worth more,” said Dora Gicheva -The income range in the US is so large that there are lots of people at the bottom end who have to work multiple jobs. How much does that have to do with the longer work hours, Blo…

And if you look at productivity USA is not beaten by European countries that work less

How are you measuring productivity?

GDP?

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#396

Post by ionised »

nether wrote: post #111
ajmurmann wrote: post #32

I find it astonishing how positive Bloomberg tries to spin this: People earn a wider range of incomes in the U.S., so “workers have an incentive to try harder to move up the job ladder because a promotion is worth more,” said Dora Gicheva -The income range in the US is so large that there are lots of people at the bottom end who have to work multiple jobs. How much does that have to do with the longer work hours, Blo…

I'm crushing it. The harder I work, the luckier I get. This is why the US has more billion dollar startups. This isn't my first rodeo. 25% more is nothing, try 50%. Eventually, work will set me free.

Arbeit Macht Frei

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#397

Post by ionised »

mrep wrote: post #362
toomuchtodo wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. Just think of the social safety net and universal healthcare we could have in the US if we taxed the highest marginal income rates appropriately. EDIT: And how much more holiday/vacation time we'd have if it was mandated at the federal level.

You do know that the US has one of the most progressive tax rates in the world right?

You mean progressively lower and lower for those with the most?

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#398

Post by ionised »

friendlygrammar wrote: post #107
coldtea wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How happy are they working that extra 25%? They are richer, sure. But I don't think being rich is an indicator of your overall state. They aren't that richer either -- if anything the majority is less rich in standard of living than most western European and nordic countries. Getting some more money in your salary is not worth much if you have to give most of it to medical coverage and basic services.

GDP per capita in the US is more than 25% greater than Europe.

GDP is heavily skewed towards the wealthy and big business.

It's borderline useless for determining the wellbeing of the average worker.

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#399

Post by ObeyTheGuts »

salmon30salmon wrote: post #242
ObeyTheGuts wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

wow, are u saying states in usa have same level culture difference like european countries? just in spain alone we have 4 different OFFICIAL languages

If I walk into a government building in my state, I will pick up a pamphlet which has notices in English, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese and Arabic. I can walk down a street and hear each of those languages being spoken. Are you really going to tell me that the Vietnamese experience in the United States is basically the same as the English experience? If so, please come visit on of the top 30 cities in the United State…

we have all sorts of people from all over the world in europe too, it is not an argument....

Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds

#400

Post by ionised »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #341
kilon wrote: post #140

USA problems are well known for decades now https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM A glowing example of how a huge economy can also be a terrible economy . That 25% is only the tip of the iceberg. If Russia is the fall of communism , USA is the fall of capitalism. Two extremely stupid economic and political models. Is it a coincidence that both countries have the most rich in the world and a terrible track record…

> Is it a coincidence that both countries have the most rich in the world... It is not true that both countries have the most rich in the world[sic]. Russia was never a rich country like the US - not before Communism, not during, and not after. It could create a good facade and a strong military, but that's not the same thing...

I believe he meant rich individuals, billionaires, oligarchs.
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