4 ms·
Given that e.g. the unemployment rate in Spain is 23% [1] and Greece is bankrupt, it seems a little quixotic to be highlighting European entitlements for worker
by jbarham 15y ago
Given that e.g. the unemployment rate in Spain is 23% [1] and Greece is bankrupt, it seems a little quixotic to be highlighting European entitlements for workers, when the more pressing problem is obviously the huge numbers of people who are not working and cannot find work and to whom those entitlements are a bad joke. Indeed, some people might even posit a link between entitlements and the current economic mess in Europe...
1. http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook/2012/03/spains-budget-deficit http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook/2012/03/spains-budge...
- rimantas 15y agoHow about Germany, Norway, Sweden? I don't know about Spain, but 40 hours week was least of Greece's problem.
- rmc 15y agoThe countries in Europe (Germany, France) that are bailing out other countries (e.g. Ireland, Portugal), are the ones with long holidays bailing out the countries with short holidays. Ireland is a great example of bare minimum employee law to meet EU standards, and light touch regulation that needs to be bailed out by 35½ hr-a-week France.
- functionoid 15y agoI've heard from real people interviews why they do not work long or hard in France. They officially have one month of vacation more than the working class in US. The reason people told is they think tomorrow is not going to be better than today so why work? And they themselves find it depressing which they accepted in the interviews.
- rte5434 15y agoI love how you conveniently leave out Greece.
- functionoid 15y agoIs Greece any different, bloated government, high unemployment, high government salaries and where did it go? Default on its financial obligations. You would know that if you were aware of what is happening but seems you don't.
- icandoitbetter 15y agoGreeks work more hours than Germans [1] (in fact they're the 2nd hardest working people in the world according to an 2008 OECD study) and have shorter holidays (23 vs 30 days) [2]. [1] http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/12/european_financial_crisis_is_europe_a_mess_because_germans_work_hard_and_greeks_are_lazy_.html http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/12/euro... [2] http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,763618,00.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,763618,00....
- functionoid 15y agoWith 20% unemployment not sure how people are going to work. Just so you know the underlying theme at France and Greece. Intellectual people in France know that their number of work days are not sustainable but as of now if government tries to make a change, they will not survive the election because people have taken these holidays as their right. So they cannot make the change even if they want to. Greece has the similar socialism problem of big government, high government salaries and unrestrained spending no doubt they have high unemployment. We are headed in that direction under current administration where government is growing without bounds and we have unemployment rate of almost 9%.