Back in the glory days of the 1960’s when people only worked 40 hours, Keynes projected cutting the work week by more than half. Why didn’t this pan out? For one thing Keynesian economics ran into trouble with the oil crisis of the early 1970s. Capitalism was taken over by market fundamentalists whose mantra was austerity for the working class. Today a survey found that 86% of workers come to work sick and are willing to work holidays. Why? They are afraid of being fired. Despite clear research that shows working a shorter work-week increases productivity, bonehead myopic capitalist expanded the work-week, killing the goose that lays their golden eggs.
Read in University of Leeds
