American work ethic ? Lagging ?

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American work ethic ? Lagging ? - 10/3/2015 2:59:46 PM

MrRodgers

Posts: 10542
Joined: 7/30/2005
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Americans are just as productive as ever, they're just not getting paid for it and have had their hours reduced.

Item: A Bloomberg poll on the 2016 presidential horse race found that 72 percent of the people surveyed said the U.S. isn't as great as it once was. No big shock there. Polls have been picking up the America-in-decline lament for years.

Item: .....another poll, released last week, found that 27 percent of respondents thought "our own lagging work ethic" was the greater threat to American greatness, behind only "moral decay," chosen by 32 percent.

Item:.....poor work ethic was ranked as a larger peril than, say, the rise of Islamic State (26 percent), wealth concentration among the very few (25 percent) and competition with China (21 percent).

Anyone slightly familiar with data comparing global economies knows Americans work harder and more efficiently than workers in most other countries.

Hours worked per employee per year -- the U.S. isn't a standout among industrialized countries. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2014 ranked the U.S. 23rd out of 38 countries. Mexico 1, Germany last, Greeks the most in Europe.

Total hours worked tells us very little. Some can do in a 40/wk what others take, say 60 hrs. So that age old productivity comes into play.

And on this score, the U.S. excels. The OECD ranked it third in productivity relative to gross domestic product, behind only tiny, homogenous and wealthy Luxembourg and oil-rich Norway. Germany, by comparison, is No. 8.

The OECD also tallies work-life balance, and on this score, Americans rank near the bottom, at 29 out of 36 countries. When compared with Europeans, Americans get less time off, family leave and sick days. Americans are working so hard that they sacrifice time with their families and don't take enough vacation, even when earned.

My point: So if the data dispute the "lagging work ethic" claim, why do people believe it's true? We can guess they weren't referring to their own lack of industriousness.

Presidential candidates' recent pronouncements about a declining American work ethic are promoting this false impression. True, Jeb Bush was derided when he said at a campaign stop in New Hampshire in July that "People need to work longer hours."

Trump's position paper on immigration says taxpayers have had to absorb billions in health care, housing, education and welfare costs, despite economic studies (even from conservative think tanks) showing immigrants are a net benefit to the economy.

Bush went down the same path a week ago when he said he would appeal to black voters with an aspirational message, not by promising "free stuff."

Then there was Rand Paul's August comment that immigrants are able to get jobs because "we've almost defeated the work ethic in our country. We're rotting from the inside." Did he mean that, because native-born Americans are no longer willing to take low-paying, menial jobs, including picking crops, processing meat and cleaning homes, the economy is forced to rely on immigrants ?

Romney's 47% comment, did it mean he was out of touch with the voters, not to mention economic realities ? "There's no question that hurt and did real damage," he said four months after the election.

Is it possible that "lagging work ethic" at least on the Republican side...is just another, more acceptable way of referring to Romney's 47 percent? ?

I say most politicians and yes, most on the right are in fact way out of touch with economic realities of the poor, poor working people and the 'American work ethic.'

HERE

< Message edited by MrRodgers -- 10/3/2015 3:03:03 PM >