People in France and Germany produce 30-40% more GDP per hour of work than people in the US do.
"American workers stay longer in the office, at the factory, or on the farm than their counterparts in Europe and most other rich nations, and they produce more per person over the year.
They also get more done per hour than everyone but the Norwegians, according to a UN report that said the United States "leads the world in labor productivity." The report was released in Geneva today, which is Labor Day in the United States.
The average US worker produces $63,885 of wealth per year, more than their counterparts in all other countries, the International Labor Organization said in its report. Ireland comes in second at $55,986, followed by Luxembourg at $55,641, Belgium at $55,235, and France at $54,609.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/09/03/...
My guess is that the Norwegians are doing so well because they are a tiny country with a massive amount of oil exports.
These figures are all the more surprising since, when one works fewer hours, the rate of productivity should be higher, not lower, as the low-hanging fruit get picked first (law of marginal utility). Moreover, the trend is that the US productivity rate is increasing faster than that of Europe. At current trends, it won't be many years from now when the EU has a per capita GDP less than half that of the US.
<rant> One of our problems is that we are working long hours to pay for the defense of the rest of the free world while Europe goes on vacation. When you get up and go to work in the morning, think a fond thought for our European "allies" who are taking the day off.
We need to get out of NATO now. Let the Russians shut off the gas to them (again), or the Arabs and Iranians shut off their oil, or the "youths" of indeterminate cultural background burn a few thousand more cars. The Europeans (it wasn't just the Germans and Italians) have killed about 400,000 of our young men. That's enough, I think. </rant>
The nominal GDP per hour worked numbers from OECD confirm my statement.
And if you're paying for the defense of the "rest of the free world", it's being "paid" with debt financed by Asia and the Middle East.
