If you work 40hrs/wk for 52 weeks, you will have worked 2080 hrs for the year. So who works the longest and who works the least in 38 major countries (China not included)?*
Who works the longest? Turns out it is Mexico (2,237 hrs/yr), South Korea (2,i63 hrs/yr), and, surprise, Greece (2.060hrs/yr). A problem with Greece is that only about 52% of the labor force works. In contrast 60.5% of the Mexican labor force works and 61.5% (rank 21 out of 38 major countries) of the South Koreans (rank 7).
Then who works the least? Surprise. In 38th and last place is Germany at 1,362 hrs/yr, followed by Norway at 1,408 hrs/yr and Netherlands at 1,421 hrs/yr. Germany has about 60.3% of the work force occupied (20th place), Norway at 71.2%(!) (3rd place), and Netherlands at 65.2% (10th place). Who beats Norway for work force participation - Sweden at 71.5% (1,607 hrs/yr), and at Number 1 Iceland at 81.4% (1,846 hrs/yr).
The hottest economies were Latvia, Chile and Turkey, all at 4.2% increase in GDP during 2013. Not surprisingly, Greece had the worst economic performance with a 3.9% decline in GDP, followed by Italy at -1.7% and Portugal at -1.6% (because it is mentioned so much,Spain declined by 1.2%).
Well, where was the U.S. in this? We ranked 16th in hours-worked/year (1,788 hrs/yr), 9th in GDP gain at 2.2%, and 13th in work force participation (63.2%).
* http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/07/10/are-americans-working-less-than-the-rest-of-the-world/?mod=djemRTE_h
Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
TRYING TO MAKE THE UNWORKABLE WORK?
Reports today (February 17, 2015) are that polls are showing something like 47% of Americans polled are in favor of boots on the ground in Iraq.*
It has been proposed that the Sunni countries develop a force and get rid of ISIL requiring "boots on the ground." Respected Richard Haass, president of the Council of Foreign Relations, has been one prominent person to call for such a force.** Does anyone really believe that the White House wouldn't like such a move? It is such a great idea that one wonders why the Sunni nations aren't already developing such a force? One should take into account that even Haass says such a force is a long shot. Can there be something in the Sunni psyche that we Westerners don't understand?
We need to recall that Turkey has provided a highway for radicals to join ISIL. There are Saudi's that are said to have provided ISIL with some funds.
Well, for one thing, I wouldn't be surprised if the leaders of the Sunni nation's are sitting around saying to each other, "Cool it, eventually the U.S. won't be able to resist providing cannon fodder (boots on the ground) and mop up ISIL." I don't know whether Obama will be able to last out his remaining two years with out invading Iraq again with combat troops.
I've heard it said that the Iraq army is really a loose confederation of Shiite militias. You have to wonder if the Shiites in Iraq are trainable into an army? After all we already spent 8 yrs before training them and at the first test a whole army did cut and run. I think a problem is corruption. I've heard that the leaders of that army were bribed to disappear and that some even joined ISIL In a country where corruption is so endemic (so I hear), it may be that any government forces are weak even to the point of defending themselves.
This morning I also heard on Morning Joe that the Sunni tribal leaders will not work to overthrow ISIL if Iran is involved, and they seem to be involved in such Iraq forces (militias) that are effective.
Are we trying to make something work that is not workable? The only way to hold Iraq together seems to be through a brutal dictatorship, a conclusion "we" do not like. So it seems like it is past time to let Iraq divided into three countries: Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdistan.
* http://www.ibtimes.com/obama-approval-rating-isis-slides-ground-troops-favored-more-americans-poll-1818610
** http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8f5ff39a-2c39-11e4-8eda-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3S1dGTZS2 (A second option would be to create a pan-Arab expeditionary force, one with units from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and possibly Egypt. )
It has been proposed that the Sunni countries develop a force and get rid of ISIL requiring "boots on the ground." Respected Richard Haass, president of the Council of Foreign Relations, has been one prominent person to call for such a force.** Does anyone really believe that the White House wouldn't like such a move? It is such a great idea that one wonders why the Sunni nations aren't already developing such a force? One should take into account that even Haass says such a force is a long shot. Can there be something in the Sunni psyche that we Westerners don't understand?
We need to recall that Turkey has provided a highway for radicals to join ISIL. There are Saudi's that are said to have provided ISIL with some funds.
Well, for one thing, I wouldn't be surprised if the leaders of the Sunni nation's are sitting around saying to each other, "Cool it, eventually the U.S. won't be able to resist providing cannon fodder (boots on the ground) and mop up ISIL." I don't know whether Obama will be able to last out his remaining two years with out invading Iraq again with combat troops.
I've heard it said that the Iraq army is really a loose confederation of Shiite militias. You have to wonder if the Shiites in Iraq are trainable into an army? After all we already spent 8 yrs before training them and at the first test a whole army did cut and run. I think a problem is corruption. I've heard that the leaders of that army were bribed to disappear and that some even joined ISIL In a country where corruption is so endemic (so I hear), it may be that any government forces are weak even to the point of defending themselves.
This morning I also heard on Morning Joe that the Sunni tribal leaders will not work to overthrow ISIL if Iran is involved, and they seem to be involved in such Iraq forces (militias) that are effective.
Are we trying to make something work that is not workable? The only way to hold Iraq together seems to be through a brutal dictatorship, a conclusion "we" do not like. So it seems like it is past time to let Iraq divided into three countries: Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdistan.
* http://www.ibtimes.com/obama-approval-rating-isis-slides-ground-troops-favored-more-americans-poll-1818610
** http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8f5ff39a-2c39-11e4-8eda-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3S1dGTZS2 (A second option would be to create a pan-Arab expeditionary force, one with units from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and possibly Egypt. )
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