All of which essentially means that if we did not export 10% of our GDP overseas, mostly for oil, but instead retained most of that outflow (with its 'multiplier' effect), then we could essentially reduce the "average workweek" for the employed, and still reach full employment with no increase in debt. We cannot do this now.
" the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 33.5 hours in July" The idea is that we could lower the average workweek by about 10% to around 30 hours, but also attain the same net hours of production (or slightly more) by reducing unemployment to about the typical 3-4% from its actual 12-14%. The "official number" of about 10% is lower than the actual rate, as we know - and we also know that you can never be efficient in an economy without ~3% unemployment, which is the effective turnover lag. This concept is along the same lines (first step) as Mark Goldes' proposal on the Aesop Institute site. http://www.aesopinstitute.org/millions-of-jobs.html All it takes is the partial recovery the enormous wealth which we are now exporting to our enemies (former and future) in the Middle East and Asia. Death by a thousand cuts. Jones From: Jed Rothwell Jed, you have not been in the workforce lately. The forty hour week is a joke. 50 hours per week is the norm and take some work home too. It adds up to 60 + hours. I know that the situation is bad but I do not think that 60 hours is now the normal workweek in the U.S. No doubt extra hours of work are a contributing factor to unemployment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports: "In July, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 34.2 hours. The manufacturing workweek for all em- ployees increased by 0.1 hour to 40.1 hours, following a decrease of 0.5 hour in June. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 33.5 hours in July. . . ." http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm This is for part-time workers as well as full-time employees. - Jed
