Edward Prescott, co-winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Economics, asks:
Why do Americans work so much more than Europeans?…
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!).
What he saw and experienced is moving … and online via a Flickr photostream he's created. Click the pic and check it out.
Esquire has a nice, and free, “What I've Learned” from the late (and great) Rodney Dangerfield. He didn't have an easy life, and in the face of it his humor was remarkable. Among the gems is this account of how a legend was born:
I started over again with an image: “Nothing goes right.” Then when The Godfather came out, all I heard was, “Show respect. With me, you show respect.” So I changed the image to “I don't get no respect.” I tried it out in Greenwich Village. I remember the first joke I told: “Even as a kid, I'd play hide and seek and the other kids wouldn't even look for me.” The people laughed. After the show, they started saying to me, “Me, too—I don't get no respect.” I figured, let's try it again.
From WSJ online:
Greenspan warned that a further increase in crude-oil prices could risk “more serious negative consequences” for the economy. U.S. retail sales surged 1.5% in September but consumer sentiment soured in October. Producer prices rose 0.1%.
Keep an eye on oil (current spot prices here) … if the rise continues you can expect two “serious negative consequences”—US Airways will be out of business, and Delta will declare bankruptcy.
Living in a “swing state,” our house is being spammed with a heavy, daily dose of political direct mail. Most of them are from the Dems (which is actually a bit of a surprise to me, given that I thought Karl Rove had made direct mail the province of Republicans), and most of them are ridiculously simple-minded and insulting.
But again, it's like advertisers say: If you hate or don't get an ad, it wasn't meant for you.
Regardless, I figured: when you have a surplus, share the love. So I'll be sharing the main messages from the pieces we get, and you can indulge in the same swing-state reading we're getting in PA.
Today's lot:
What are Lois' priorities? Glad you asked. From the mailing:
Welcome to our world …
Spending as much time on airplanes as I do, I particularly enjoyed this MSNBC article on how to avoid talkative seatmates (via FARK).
I'm a big fan of the Headphone Strategy myself … although I thought this was interesting (if a bit strange):
Robert Salmon of Chevy Chase sends a different kind of message. Whenever he flies on Southwest Airlines, Salmon dons on a surgical mask in the boarding area. It’s not that he has a breathing disorder or an infectious disease. Since Southwest has an open-seating policy, Salmon uses the mask to discourage people from sitting next to him. And if someone does wind up beside him, he said the mask pretty much ensures the traveler won’t start chatting away.“It’s very effective. I don’t have to make any excuses about why I don’t want to talk, people just stay away,” said Salmon, a housing constructor.
Hey … I'm sure it works (if you don't mind living a lie) …