On Tue, 04 Sep 2007 01:34:03 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:

Eeyore wrote:

Jim Thompson wrote:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6976084.stm

...Jim Thompson

" the US figure is boosted by Americans working more hours per
year than
workers in most developed countries."


That's why they are MORE productive, dumb ass.

Who was it who coined the phrase "Lies, damned lies, and statistics"?
(could be Mark Twain, Benjamin Disraeli or anyone of a number of
others)

How is labour productivity measured? It is simply the return on
capital for hours worked. That means that if the workforce is screwed
down by paying lower wages than in comparable situations in other
developed countries then the profitability, and hence labour
productivity, is greater.

The national unemployment rate as well as the demand for labour will
also have some say in the result. If there are a large number
unemployed looking for work, they will accept lower wages in order to
get a job, since there is a plentiful supply of labour to choose from.
Conversely, in a country with low unemployment and a high demand for
labour, workers can demand higher wages. Therefore the labour
productivity figure will be pushed backwards despite the fact that the
working hours are equal to their US counterparts.

The last figures I saw for US and Australian workers was that they
both worked around 1825 hrs per capita while the unemployment figure
in both countries is below 5%. However due to the massive Australian
resources boom skilled workers are scarce, so they are getting paid
more and the comparitive labour productivity figure will be lower than
for the US. It's just a case of supply and demand and the situation
may reverse in the next few years...