The article linked to this one http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/09/working-hours http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/09/working-...

The article linked to this one http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/09/working-hours http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/09/working-... That compares data across the OECD, so fair enough this isn't comparing Papua New Guinea to the UK or similar. However, it mentions in the article the difference between Germany and Greece as examples of higher average hours and lower average productivity. I'd still tend to believe this isn't because the Greeks could get more done by working less but that Germans are tackling different work or using more technology in their work than the Greeks. > Maybe the reason so many british people drink too much is because they're working too much, and they're (mis)using alcohol to wind down. Maybe. It seems like we agree on this anyway. I was being slightly tongue in cheek here, not trying to suggest all the freed up hours would be spent in the pub :). I'll leave it at that.