Isn't the true metric is always time? "How long will it take me to implement algorithm X in language Y?" Paul assumes that program size == coding time. However

Isn't the true metric is always time? "How long will it take me to implement algorithm X in language Y?" Paul assumes that program size == coding time. However, do we really spend most of our time typing? And can we honestly say that shorter programs take less time to read than longer ones, even if all are written by ourselves? In my opinion language's power should be related to its capabilities for abstraction, more precisely - higher orders of it. High degrees of abstraction give you better code rewrite/reuse ratios, which means as your program grows, you gain more power since you can reuse various abstract concepts you've already implemented. Is there a sound relation between language's ability for abstraction and size of programs written in it? I am not so sure.