Some things the author didn't consider: * In the US, there's no mandatory federal holidays for states and private companies. * This doesn't include essential

Some things the author didn't consider: * In the US, there's no mandatory federal holidays for states and private companies. * This doesn't include essential employees, who typically get floating holidays in lieu of federal holidays (usually used at a later time) * Are the differences in happiness actually caused by holiday time - or are there other factors (and what are they) that account for other countries having seemingly higher happiness levels * Is this happiness or contentment we're talking about - there is a huge difference * My understanding was that the high and late middle ages the RCC did whatever it could to placate many of the lower classes because of the pressures brought on by the Ottoman and Eastern Orthodoxies