The Pessimistic Economy

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I think we romanticize their work hours as a cultural phenomenon. It may be more of an institutional phenomenon. I certainly wouldn't mind at all if Americans as a whole worked a little bit less and consumed a little bitLess. As Europeans are taxed more, which Edward Prescott and others have pointed out as part of the reason that they work less.

Author Gregg Easterbrook talks about the ideas in his latest book, The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse. How has life changed in America over the last century? Is the average person getting ahead or are the rich taking all the gains? Easterbrook argues that life is better for the average American in almost every dimension. The paradox is that despite those gains, we don't seem much happier.