Exhausted? Americans work more, sleep less

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Exhausted? Americans work more, sleep less

Americans are working more and sleeping less, according to the National Sleep Foundation. We're getting below seven hours of sleep a night, even as we're working 4.5 hours a week from home -- on top of the 9.5 hours we spend at the office. Listen to Ben and Joel discuss this topic.

Do we need to take a break? Why aren't Americans relaxing a little more?

Ben likes: Peace and prosperity through productivity

Ronald Bailey/Reason

Productivity can save the planet and produce peace and prosperity for all. Productivity is the tool that can eliminate all of the scourges of humanity—poverty, hunger, disease and war. Norwegian-American economist and business consultant Tor Dahl passionately made this argument in his keynote presentation at the World Future Society's annual meeting.

Dahl is the chairman emeritus of the World Confederation of Productivity Science. One must be on guard against the exaggerated claims of the mavens of any discipline for the significance of their field. Of course, mavens believe that what they do is vitally important, otherwise why would they do it? That said, Dahl was very persuasive.

Joel likes: Why we don't vacation like the French

Ezra Klein/The American Prospect

Of all these countries, the United States is, by far, the richest. And you would think that, as our wealth grew and our productivity increased, a certain amount of our resources would go into, well, us. Into leisure. Into time off. You would think that we'd take advantage of the fact that we can create more wealth in less time to wrest back some of those hours for ourselves and our families. But instead, the exact opposite has happened.

This would all be fine if it were what we wanted. But that doesn't seem to be the case. One famous 1996 study asked associates at major law firms which world they'd prefer: The one they resided in, or one in which they took a 10% pay cut in return for a 10% reduction in hours worked. They overwhelmingly preferred the latter. Elsewhere, economists have given individuals sets of choices pitting leisure against goods. Leisure doesn't always win out, but it is certainly competitive. Yet we're pumping ever more hours into work, seeking ever-higher incomes to fund ever-greater consumption. Why?