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[–] 33 points 3 months ago (20 children)

FORMER...always nice when they come up with great ideas AFTER they've left office.

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  • [–] 33 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    Achually she had this idea before she was PM.

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  • [–] 9 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Had this idea before, has this idea after, it seems the "during" part is the problem somehow.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago (15 children)

    Finland's debt to GDP ratio is pretty high, they probably couldn't actually afford this anymore without increasing taxes. 10 years ago maybe. At 86% debt to GDP they're the 7th highest in the EU and I read a while ago that it it was projected to surpass 100% soon.

    Now that 100% is an arbitrary number because GDP is an annual number and debt is not, but overall the ratio is still an useful number because it essentially measures how big a % of the entire GDP needs to be paid as interest on bonds and whatnot (multiply debt to GDP ratio by average bond interest)

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  • [–] 7 points 3 months ago (14 children)

    The catch is that less work time actually INCREASES productivity.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago*

    In some scenarios. Some types of office work in particular, and not for everyone. Some people work best in short spurts, some do not. Those of us who qualify are incredibly privileged, as are the industries we work for.

    Now try this with manufacturing, healthcare, etc. 24 hour weeks means that to get the same output, you have to hire nearly twice as many employees, at the same monthly cost per employee. There probably aren't enough qualified unemployed people around to do that, so it's easier to just let productivity drop (and do hospitals REALLY need so many people around 24/7? At nearly 2x the cost, perhaps not - can't just increase pricing to make up for the cost increase in a single-payer system).

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (11 children)

    Depends on the situation. Suddenly going to 60% of the work load isn't suddenly going to make the country or it's people more productive. You'd need to hire more people to get the work done and Finland's unemployment rate is already at 13%. So this would be a pretty poor solution when it comes to economics for everyone, unless you pay people less because they are working less hours.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (7 children)

    I have thought of this. Paying people less could work out alright if you bring down their living costs. Housing is most of that and a lot of that cost goes to profit for banks.

    Bring the cost of housing down and a lot of people will probably be happy to reduce hours worked. If you have a high unemployment rate there should be plenty of people to cover those extra hours too.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (5 children)

    Bring down the costs of housing, food, oh, and entertainment as well. Guess you could bring down restaurant costs if you pay people less, but then you have the same exact problem being asked here.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 months ago* (4 children)

    Food is pocket change compared to housing.

    Having a house: £1300/month Food: £40/month if I eat a lot of cheese

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (3 children)

    At least in the US, food expenditures are roughly 15-20% of income. Housing is 30%.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (2 children)

    Is that food or is that takeaway fees? I know a depressing number of people who live off takeaways, it must cost a fortune and I don't know if they will live to 40.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    I think you'd have to get rid of going out as well, but food is food.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago*

    Looking at the meat consumption per capita in the US I can't help but think its a skill issue.

    Gotta have protein bro! Look at all this protein. Eat 3 chickens for breakfast! Gotta build muscle!! 8 steak milkshake! Protein!!!

    What you guys need is fiber. Eat some oats. They cost fuck all. No, not the brand named sachets of oats, get large bags of plain rolled oats.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 months ago

    Erm, this will either cut profits for the sellers, or the pay will go down way more than the housing price.

    But I also see there being hidden economic benefits to having more free time.

    More time to stitch, repair, learn, take care of yourself.

    Less medical costs and damages.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    I am quite curious on what the science will say on this.

    We need another experiment.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    What exeriment would you propose then?

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago

    60% work hours for ALL jobs in a small town, to measure how it actually affects productivity.

    But this includes things like healthcare, opinions of the people working there, opinions of the business workers, etc.

    See where it helps and where it makes things worse.

    I have a feeling that many people would choose time ober money though.

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