Figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show that the average Greek worker toils away for 2,017 hours per year which is more than any other European country.
Out of the 34 members of the OECD, that is just two places behind the board leaders, South Korea.
On the other hand, the average German worker - normally thought of as the very epitome of industriousness - only manages 1,408 hours a year. Germany is 33rd out of 34 on the OECD list (or 24th out of 25 looking at the European countries alone).
Read it at BBC News
Are Greeks the hardest workers in Europe?By Charlotte McDonald
The article shows the assertion that Greek workers are unproductive is simplistic. Depends on how productivity is measured.
"This is because the Germans take more holiday, sickness leave and maternity leave - on average four weeks more than the Greeks."
ReplyDeleteThis re-enforces the point I have been making lately about currency exchange rates.
The German's have had it better, and before ERM, the DM was always the strong currency that the BuBa was always having to intervene to weaken in order to have competitive exchange rates.
Then you had the Drachma that was always weak. Because the Greeks worked harder and had worse real terms of labor within the Greek economy.
Germany had the stronger currency. When a nation puts it's workers in a better position in real terms, their currency strengthens.
Going to an MMT policy here would make the USD rally else equal...
Even if we do nothing here in the US and leave it status quo (like we have been doing, but not that the morons have planned it that way), if the EZ and UK start to really put the screws to the people over there, both the Euro and the Pound should start to fall vs USD else equal.
Resp,
"And while a smaller proportion of Germans work in agriculture, here too they are more efficient - partly because "technology is more widespread", he says"
ReplyDeleteThose wide German plains are good for grains which lend towards automation, even dairy has become very automated. Greece probably better for grazing livestock animals and fruit/nut trees.
Another thing is that Germany has been able to pass these productivity advantages on to it's workers, so they have more time off and better pay, rather than just give up the gains to corporate profits and/or price reductions....
We'll see what happens there if the EZ austerity eventually makes it's way to Germany .
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ReplyDeleteOf course my experience does not tell us much about aggregates, but I had a job in Germany once: it was a total joke, we worked maybe 2hrs a week, and there were hundreds of us in the company. The company was a semi-public monopolist, we were invincible! Pay was 2x the national average. Some productivity, I tell you. And everybody was bitching about the lazy government workers, it was surreal.
ReplyDelete