Very interesting to see that Norway is the 2nd most productive, but ranks 3rd in fewest hours worked! Makes me feel good about leaving work at four. ;)
The average Greek is working a full 40% longer than the average German
71–80 of 152 posts
Re: The average Greek is working a full 40% longer than the average German
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fine, I never said borrowing was wrong. I said borrowing without having means to pay back is wrong. You almost make it look as though Greece did nothing wrong in borrowing, but now Germany and alike are committing a huge sin in not bailing them out. UK, Italy and all those countries you mentioned might definitely have the same debt. But the situation there is different because those people have a way of paying their…
Germany has massive part on it by enforcing such shockingly low borrowing rates across the Eurozone. It completely destroyed countries with immature Real Estate landscapes, countries used to high inflation rates that collectively shot themselves in the foot. Germany and France took no hostages when they were stagnating and failed to meet EU requirements. They gave absolutely no regard to these countries and now they…
Germany 'enforced' the borowing rates? Let's look a few years back. The rating agencies rated all kinds of junk very high. The banks all over the place where very creative with products hiding the risks. When Germany was asking for tighter regulations we were ignored or laughed at. Now the Germans simply demand that the lessons are learned and we see structural reforms - reforms which can not be done by just throwing more money at countries high in debt.
Re: The average Greek is working a full 40% longer than the average German
#73I don't know about Greece, but I grew up in Portugal, and I suspect there are some similarities. People in Portugal "work" long hours. But they also work in a very infective way: long useless meetings, everything requires lengthy social interactions, bizantine bureaucracy, too many managers for too few real workers and so on. There are complex cultural problems that cannot be expressed by such simplistic metrics (and…
As a portuguese also, I totally subscribe this. Hence the reason I don't work in/for Portugal anymore, and I won't until this mentality is gone for good.
Re: The average Greek is working a full 40% longer than the average German
#74Well BBC ran a show last night. And it did show the some reasons why Greece is such trouble today. It turns out people spent like crazy, far beyond their means. Things like electricians driving Porsche's and High End Mercedes cars. All of it imported from Germany. When a nation full of people with government included involves in such spending it is but other wise natural that they price for it later on. The anchor di…
Why spend more than what you can earn?
Because you can generate more wealth than the interest costs you, and hence everyone can get wealthier. Government and people and companies have been borrowing money to spend on things for ages.
Re: The average Greek is working a full 40% longer than the average German
#75As a Greek I have to admit that this number tells half the truth. The other half is that in terms of productivity Greece is very low. So while we may work a lot more than the average German the quality of the products/services we provide is significantly worse.
Re: The average Greek is working a full 40% longer than the average German
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
It was (and mostly still is) so easy to avoid taxes in Greece that it's fair to say the burden is on the government more than the people. I believe it's difficult to make people tax-conscious when they see that it's so easy for everyone around them to steal. The tax authorities here are corrupt, underqualified, and have a very low rate of tax collection. It's so bad that it had better be replaced altogether.
Greece is a democracy. The government is representative of its people.
I think a more appropriate way of putting it is that voters get the government they deserve.
I suspect "making tax evasion harder" hasn't been a viable platform to run on in Greece for a while.
Re: The average Greek is working a full 40% longer than the average German
#77I don't know about Greece, but I grew up in Portugal, and I suspect there are some similarities. People in Portugal "work" long hours. But they also work in a very infective way: long useless meetings, everything requires lengthy social interactions, bizantine bureaucracy, too many managers for too few real workers and so on. There are complex cultural problems that cannot be expressed by such simplistic metrics (and…
I'm also from Portugal but I have been working in London for some time now. Curiously, I don't see much of a difference besides now working only from 9 to 6 instead of working from 9 to 10. Same useless meetings, a very long line for coffee all day long, everyone is a manager, etc.
My opinion is a simple one: some countries sell stuff others want, some don't. We were just unlucky and not smart enough to value our geographical position in the world.
Re: The average Greek is working a full 40% longer than the average German
#78Well BBC ran a show last night. And it did show the some reasons why Greece is such trouble today. It turns out people spent like crazy, far beyond their means. Things like electricians driving Porsche's and High End Mercedes cars. All of it imported from Germany. When a nation full of people with government included involves in such spending it is but other wise natural that they price for it later on. The anchor di…
When a market is flooded with easy, cheap money distortions occur. Witness the housing excesses in the U.S. prior to 2008. This is a phenomenon of human nature. Excess credit inevitably leads to too many bad loans.
Re: The average Greek is working a full 40% longer than the average German
#79As well as the issues other posters have mentioned, the HN title (though not the article) is misleading as the Greek retirement age was 55 until recently.
Working 40% longer hours each week, but cutting a decade off your career, does not mean you work 40% longer.
Re: The average Greek is working a full 40% longer than the average German
#80We're led to believe the solution to this economic crisis is either getting deeper in debt or more austerity measures (higher taxes, less subsidies) We're led to believe it's either A or B. It's neither A or B for most countries. The truth of the matter is that it's a political problem. We have to reduce the size of the government.
... and jail the corrupt people that hold public office yet act against the citizens in any way. Until that moment in time, nothing good will come out of this and the status quo will just keep on rolling and smashing everyone in its way.