> The Greeks work the longest hours in Europe but anybody who has been to Germany and Greece would probably tell you that the Germans probably work harder. I d

> The Greeks work the longest hours in Europe but anybody who has been to Germany and Greece would probably tell you that the Germans probably work harder. I don't agree with the "work harder" motive. I'm a Portuguese guy, working for a German company. Half of my team is German and based in Germany, but we visit and are visited very often. As you certainly know, and much like the Greeks, Portuguese rank very high in the amount of hours worked, and very low in productivity. From my experience (and second-hand experience in the company), Germans don't work harder than Portuguese. I also wouldn't say that they work smarter. I'm not really sure I can point you the exact reason why Germans are more productive (which we know they are, because econometrics et al - but they don't seem to be, working with me on a daily basis). The best I can come up with is systemic advantage. The whole social system seems to be wired for productivity, which isn't true in here (Portugal). It's hard to pinpoint reasons, but I'd say corruption, taking advantage of the state, and all the small things. Education doesn't seem to be working here in Portugal; we have an obsessive focus on STEM here, and end up producing very good engineers but very bad citizens. :) It's the small things, really. Every day you'll notice traffic going slow because someone thought that it's legitimate to park in the road (instead of finding a valid parking place) just to grab some bread or groceries; it really seems a small thing, but embodies (IMHO) the problem: somebody thought that it's valid to make tens or hundreds of people slow down (and risk accidents) just to avoid wasting his personal five minutes to find a parking space.