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?
