Economic Reality
&gt; Riding to work the other day, I heard about protests occurring in France.  Workers were complaining about potential changes in labor regulations that would make their jobs less secure.  In brief, French workers like it the way things are: they can’t be pushed beyond 35 hours a week, and employers’ ability to terminate them is subject to a drawn-out, torturous and uncertain program.  They also like their lengthy vacations and the extensive benefits provided by the state.  The question is where the ability to pay for above average benefits will come from if neither the hours worked nor the productivity per hour is above average.  Governments and regulations can’t produce prosperity.<p>This memo neatly glosses over where the productivity gains in the last 100 years have gone, and makes it seem as if it&#x27;s fair for wages of the American worker to stagnate while the megawealthy get all the profit. If a worker in 2016 can build a car in a-fourth the time it took a worker in 1935 to build a car, why is it implausible for them to work 35 hours a week with better benefits and more vacation time?