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Comments on: June Labour market preview: Employment and hours http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/08/02/june-labour-market-preview-employment-and-hours/ The Visible Hand in Economics Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:33:24 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: June 08 Labour market: Part Two (Revenge of the hours worked) « The visible hand in economics http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/08/02/june-labour-market-preview-employment-and-hours/#comment-1938 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:33:24 +0000 http://tvhe.wordpress.com/?p=791#comment-1938 […] then you see the increase in employment and HOURS WORKED (the indicator I wanted to keep an eye on) and you realise “this employment data isn’t hot – but it is a definite improvement on […]

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By: June 08 labour market: The first half « The visible hand in economics http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/08/02/june-labour-market-preview-employment-and-hours/#comment-1937 Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:08:41 +0000 http://tvhe.wordpress.com/?p=791#comment-1937 […] remember that the pointer for me was hours worked – I wanted to see how far they fell before making any judgments on the state of the labour […]

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By: Matt Nolan http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/08/02/june-labour-market-preview-employment-and-hours/#comment-1936 Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:08:53 +0000 http://tvhe.wordpress.com/?p=791#comment-1936 “Why work 40 hours at a warehouse when you can work 30, still get by and save (albeit buying a little less crap), and spend 10 hours being creative?”

The individual is in the best place to decide this. I realise that there is difficultly when we are only given discrete choices (eg work 0 or 40 hours), as your “best choice” is not avaliable. However, if you choose to work 40 hours instead of zero you are saying you prefer it.

“I know a lot of people with degrees working jobs that just don’t pay them what their time is worth”

Here it depends what you mean by worth. If the person is working they must be paying him/her at above his/her reservation level – so it is worthwhile for them. If you are making some sort of normative judgment that they are not getting a fair piece of the value they create from their work then there must be some reason for it (eg the employer has too much power in the bargaining process) – however it is still better than the next best alternative.

The way society is at the moment I think that the choice to work is relatively “voluntary”, and if people are willing to take lower pay they can often get more flexible hours. As a result, I’m think that current labour market arrangements are relatively optimal.

As a result, any fall in hours worked will more likely imply a change in labour demand, instead of a change in the fundamental preferences by workers. If labour hours rise all the economists will start saying that people “have to work” in order to pay their bills – although this may be the case at some level, it would also imply that labour demand is not waning, which when looking at inflation etc is the more important point to focus on. Hopefully the inflation adjustment of benefits etc will be sufficient to help the poorest people maintain the type of standard of living that we as a society believe that everyone should have at minimum.

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By: Tono & the Finance Company http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/08/02/june-labour-market-preview-employment-and-hours/#comment-1935 Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:41:02 +0000 http://tvhe.wordpress.com/?p=791#comment-1935 But could this reflect workers choosing to work less and value their time more? In my opinion 40 hours a week is “overemployment.”

Why work 40 hours at a warehouse when you can work 30, still get by and save (albeit buying a little less crap), and spend 10 hours being creative?

I know a lot of people with degrees working jobs that just don’t pay them what their time is worth. So they cover their basic needs and do something else the rest of the time (like write a blog).

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By: North Korea http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/08/02/june-labour-market-preview-employment-and-hours/#comment-1934 Sun, 03 Aug 2008 13:29:33 +0000 http://tvhe.wordpress.com/?p=791#comment-1934 Money is a poor man’s credit card.MarshallMcLuhanMarshall McLuhan

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By: Iraq War http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/08/02/june-labour-market-preview-employment-and-hours/#comment-1933 Sat, 02 Aug 2008 20:15:43 +0000 http://tvhe.wordpress.com/?p=791#comment-1933 Watching films in a cinema is in many ways like going to

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