Thursday, August 14, 2014

How Did We Get So Busy?

People work in order to earn enough money to buy what they need (food, shelter, and clothing).  But what is left over is disposable, to be used to pursue and purchase one's individual interests.  Of course, this disposable aspect of income and its importance varies dramatically from country to country.

Americans lead all nations in the percentage of disposable income.  While countries like England, France, and Italy put in as many regular work hours as those in the U.S. do, Europeans do not work as many hours for discretionary income as Americans choose to.  Instead of quitting while they are ahead, Americans find new things to need. 

Most types of material consumption (i.e., anything beyond subsistence) are strongly habit-forming.  That is, the consumer grows accustomed to what he has purchased, and is ready to continue buying.  For example, the more technological pieces we buy, the more we need, etc. 

Joseph Stiglitz, of Columbia University, argues that people’s choices are molded by society and become self-reinforcing over time.  We “learn how to consume by consuming,” he wrote, and how to “enjoy leisure by enjoying leisure.”

The average employed American now works roughly 140 hours more per year than the average Englishman and 300 hours more than the average Frenchman.  Current French law mandates that workers get 30 paid vacation days per year; British law enforces 28; and the U.S. requires zero paid vacation days for their workers.  As a result, Europeans are predicted to reduce their work hours and become more skilled at taking time off for leisure, while Americans, who have become master consumers, will continue to work long hours to buy more things.

This brief summary comes from a recent article, “No Time,” by Elizabeth Kolbert, which appeared in The New Yorker of May 26, 2014. Her article offers a new way to look at what American workers do with their earnings.

How do you side on the question of more free time for the important things of life versus more income for non-essentials? Are the French happier than Americans because they are not as addicted to material goods as we are?