Anti-Climacus

QUOTE: Nice piece by Irwin Setzer on the Daily Standard, about the real consequences of those four-week vacations they have in Europe:

"SO EUROPEANS INSIST that Americans may be more "productive," as economists measure productivity, but only because they work longer hours. In any given hour, they contend, European workers can produce as much or more. The fact that Europe's economies typically produce fewer goods and services for the delectation of their citizens then becomes a matter of choice--the voluntary selection of leisure over work.

Not a bad argument, if correct. After all, perhaps the one thing the French have got right is their famous chacun à son gout. The problem is that although an American worker can often trade off higher income for more leisure time, it is not so easy for Europeans to do the opposite. An Italian worker who would like more income and less vacation time can show up for work in August, but his factory or office will be closed. A British worker who would like to make a few extra pounds by working in the week after Christmas will have a hard time being productive in an empty office or plant. About the only thing a European worker can do to improve the ratio of income-to-leisure is emigrate to America. Which is why millions of Italians, Irish, Germans, and other Europeans have voted with their feet in favor of America's balance between work and leisure, with no discernible flow in the opposite direction."