151–160 of 198 posts
During WW2, the government wanted to increase production, so did some studies. They found that a 60 hr week boosted production for a couple weeks, but then it fell below what was produced by a 40 hr week. The solution to a sustained increase in output was to do 60 hr weeks in bursts, not continuously.
I love how things like the 40 hour work week with two days off get enshrined as some kind of natural phenomenon that has always been with us. 40 hours is an arbitrary number that came from trade unionists demanding fair hours and Robert Owen's slogan: “Eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest.” I mean those two things: 8 hour work day and 8 hours of sleep have been considered to be the biological/…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There are plenty of counterexamples from before that regulation Name one :-)
Literally the entire reason antitrust laws were written? Standard Oil? General Motors? AT&T? A little disingenuous to pretend that never happened.
See "Titan" by Ron Chernow
> pretend
I know what the popular wisdom is. But dig a little deeper and you'll find it is not correct.
> General Motors
was formed in 1908. The Sherman Antitrust Act was in 1890, so GM could not have been the reason for it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Literally the entire reason antitrust laws were written? Standard Oil? General Motors? AT&T? A little disingenuous to pretend that never happened.
Let's take Standard Oil. They never had a monopoly - at their peak they had a 90% market share. SO's market share slid steadily throughout the years of the anti-trust trial, and Rockefeller was unable to stem the slide. (The competition figured out how to beat him.) See "Titan" by Ron Chernow > pretend I know what the popular wisdom is. But dig a little deeper and you'll find it is not correct. > General Motors was f…
...which, to clarify, was not my point.
That is, going back up-thread a bit, it's still clear that capitalism intrinsically encourages monopolistic behavior, and that "government intervention propping up companies" is not the cause.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that even if there were no capitalistic tendency toward actual monopolies, it would still have the same winner-take-all problem, merely due to the prospect of a "winner".
I wonder how they got this curve. A lot of things can be sustained for 1 week cannot be sustained in the long term. I'd say in the long term: * 140-168 hours/week --> almost certain death. * 100-140 hours/week --> at risk of cardiovascular disease and many other serious medical conditions. Possible early death. * 80-100 hours/week --> still super-bad for your body. Forget raising children, dating, getting married, or…
For example, in your chart, I'm currently in the 60-80 hour a week range, split between a full time job and a side hustle. Personally, I've never been happier, I have a life outside of work, a beautiful girlfriend, time to meet with friends, etc.
It's just, I don't spend 5+ hours a day when i get home from work watching Netflix or fucking around on the weekends. Don't equate hustling with depression, unless you're just looking for an excuse to justify why you don't want to work harder.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let's take Standard Oil. They never had a monopoly - at their peak they had a 90% market share. SO's market share slid steadily throughout the years of the anti-trust trial, and Rockefeller was unable to stem the slide. (The competition figured out how to beat him.) See "Titan" by Ron Chernow > pretend I know what the popular wisdom is. But dig a little deeper and you'll find it is not correct. > General Motors was f…
> GM could not have been the reason for it ...which, to clarify, was not my point. That is, going back up-thread a bit, it's still clear that capitalism intrinsically encourages monopolistic behavior , and that "government intervention propping up companies" is not the cause. In fact, I would go so far as to say that even if there were no capitalistic tendency toward actual monopolies, it would still have the same wi…
A prospect and an actual problem are two different things.
SO was never convicted of being a monopoly, either. A subtle but crucial point, and usually overlooked.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't this essentially a winner-take-all situation, though? Capitalism tends towards winner-take-all systems, but not all winner-take-all systems are capitalistic. I find the example fitting.
Capitalism actual doesn't veer toward winner take all. Government does, elections do, etc. Capitalism leads to people voting with dollars so instead of a red or green car being given a vote, the red car may be cheaper if lots of people want it.
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I believe those were accounted for in those times with the notion of a stay-at-home spouse (in reality, read: wife) who did most if not all of that non-job work; food purchase/prep, laundry, chores, children, etc.
Correct, which kind of begs the question, why have the work hours not gone down when society started employing both men and women?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> GM could not have been the reason for it ...which, to clarify, was not my point. That is, going back up-thread a bit, it's still clear that capitalism intrinsically encourages monopolistic behavior , and that "government intervention propping up companies" is not the cause. In fact, I would go so far as to say that even if there were no capitalistic tendency toward actual monopolies, it would still have the same wi…
Every company wants to be a monopoly, sure. But free market forces prevent that from happening. It takes government to prop one up. A prospect and an actual problem are two different things. SO was never convicted of being a monopoly, either. A subtle but crucial point, and usually overlooked.
My point is, again, that in this case the prospect is what causes the problem.
I love how things like the 40 hour work week with two days off get enshrined as some kind of natural phenomenon that has always been with us. 40 hours is an arbitrary number that came from trade unionists demanding fair hours and Robert Owen's slogan: “Eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest.” I mean those two things: 8 hour work day and 8 hours of sleep have been considered to be the biological/…