France VS US Who's More Productive?

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Rillifane

French workers remain among the most productive in the world, ahead of Britain, Germany, the United States and Japan, according to the European statistics agency Eurostat.

France does have economic problems but productivity per se is not one of them.

EDIT: No offense David but the question was very specific, i.e. who was more productive.

Productivity is a term of art with a specific meaning. We are not talking about any other issue in the French economy but productivity.

The issue is whether a French pencil pushing bureaucrat outproduces an American pencil pushing bureaucrat and not whether it would be better if there were less of them in either country.

Nor does the question of productivity have anything to do with the number of hours worked. French workers put in fewer hours (average 31/week) than most (although still more than the Dutch and Norwegians).

The FACT remains that the individual French worker produces more per hour each hour he does work than an American and that is the measure of productivity.

EDIT2: Productivity is a defined term in the field of economics and has a very specific (and limited) meaning.

The average French worker IS more productive according to the standard definition used by experts in the field.

You want to assert that the overall French economy has problems (something I agree with...as does President Sarkozy) but one cannot just willy nilly invent falsehoods to justify that opinion.

EDIT3: New figures are new figures. As you will note from the news story that wasn't previously the case. I'm happy the US has finally managed to edge out France, after all, I am an American. But you'll also notice that its not by much.

So look at our two answers. You spoke as if it was a matter of eternal verity that the US worker was more productive when, in fact, untill these new figures appeared you were wrong.

These figures come from a comittee of the UN that I didn't serve (I am an NGO delegate to the Economic and Social Commission) on so I wasn't aware of the new numbers.

swangirl

If contentment is a by-product of productivity, then the French are definitely more productive.

emma

david o: have you ever actually VISITED/LIVED in France? apparently not, same goes for you Muslimah

Miss Lady

U.S

david o

The general malaise that is France, is no longer creative or productive. Socialism causes that and we must fight here in the US to avoid it. Without risk or incentive,nothing is accomplished.

Rillifane,
May I suggest you look at the statistics a bit closer.Most of France's productivity gains come in the Government employed workers category.I.E.They work in Government. What better way to pad statistics then to include those who work with no profit motivation,little chance of being fired and their own ax to grind.Social welfare programs eat approx. 60% of everyones' pay check,unemployment remains at approx. 10%(much greater for younger and older workers),education at the highest levels are for the elite and drop-out rates for public education at University level are enormous. Coupled with a deepening immigration problem and ever escalating social program costs, one can only hope the new government takes the necessary steps to stop the decline.

R.
Certainly not the French.

R.
A bureaucrat produces nothing,he takes.

Rillifane,
Guess what? A U.N. report to be released Monday-worldwide- clearly states that the most productive country in the world is----Hint:It's not France!Check it out on Yahoo business page,it just got posted.

Rillifane,
Go back and read again.At no time did I indicate I thought the US was number 1 in productivity,which,by the way I still don't.Only that France wasn't ,given the bureaucracy that creates these figures.It is difficult for me to understand why you call yourself a Libertarian when it seems you put so much value on government largess.

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