Comments on: How to deflate the economy without job losses

By: 21 hours – less work, more life « MAKE WEALTH HISTORY

21 hours – less work, more life « MAKE WEALTH HISTORY — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:08:15 +0000

[...] How to deflate the economy without job losses [...]

By: Solution to unemployment « Jagadees's English Weblog

Solution to unemployment « Jagadees's English Weblog — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 04:08:53 +0000

[...] from makewealthhistory ▶ No Responses /* 0) { jQuery('#comments').show('', change_location()); [...]

By: Work and Leisure in a Steady State Economy

Work and Leisure in a Steady State Economy — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:03:59 +0000

[...] invite you to watch this video from Workers of the World Relax. Also check out the Work Less Party, this blog post, this article, and this [...]

By: Joshua Nelson

Joshua Nelson — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:02:08 +0000

One step in moving to a shorter work week would be also be a fair distribution of wealth (maximum wages, minimum incomes, et cetera) as well as some serious debt repudiation. We should wipe out some debts, restructure our wealth distribution, and then living on less will be easier and acceptable.

We could also assume that if everyone took a 20% cut, costs of living would decrease accordingly. However, this assumes companies would distribute that savings back to the consumer (your electric utility, phone, etc).

By: Louise

Louise — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:46:28 +0000

Working a shorter week sounds good in principle (and I’d definitely like it!) but what about those earning at the lower-end of the scale? Even as a professional in the media, I get paid very badly and taking a 20% cut would leave me scraping to pay the bills…
Surely the idea only works if your job happens to be decently-paid in the first place?

By: Joshua

Joshua — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:06:15 +0000

I can tell you that I am a overworked American. As I “need” to work 40hrs a week to make ends meat (thanks to some previous school debts and large overhead of city-living) I can tell you that I would very much rather work less if I could afford to do so. It would grant me the freedom to be with my son more, garden, read, and have a fuller “real life.”

Work is not everyone’s life, even those with careers like myself. More and more people are realizing this fact in my generation (mid-twenties), but the system makes it difficult to get back to a better, less work-hours life.

But, that’s “why we fight,” right? Nice post.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:30:39 +0000

That’s what people did in the 1920s too, although it’s interesting that some companies tried it. Kelloggs is the most famous example, and the limited working hours were so popular that they remained in place for decades, long after the great depression was over.

A third of Americans are overworked, apparently, so both the employed and the unemployed would benefit from a redistribution of working hours.

By: Dot.Hakers

Dot.Hakers — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:18:33 +0000

I think that, apart from political cowardice, the fact that work defines the lives of so many people nowadays would make most of them sceptical, to say the least, about such proposal. I completely agree with it but whenever I have discussed it with people my age (25-30), their first and most common reaction is to ridicule the idea…

Sad…