And I Thought It Was The Heavy Food

Edward Prescott, co-winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Economics, asks:

Why do Americans work so much more than Europeans?

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Here's a startling fact: Based on labor market statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Americans aged 15-64, on a per-person basis, work 50% more than the French. Comparisons between Americans and Germans or Italians are similar. What's going on here? What can possibly account for these large differences in labor supply?

The answer? Marginal tax rates. It's a fascinating economic analysis. Read the article (and then go back to work!).