The laziness dogma

AMERICANS work longer hours than their counterparts in just about every other wealthy country; we are known, among those who study such things, as the "no-vacation nation". According to a 2009 study, full-time US workers put in almost 30 per cent more hours over the course of a year than their German counterparts, largely because they had only half as many weeks of paid leave. Not surprisingly, work-life balance is a big problem for many people.

But Jeb Bush - who is still attempting to justify his ludicrous claim that he can double our rate of economic growth - says that Americans "need to work longer hours and through their productivity gain more income for their families". Mr Bush's aides have tried to spin away his remark, claiming that he was only referring to workers trying to find full-time jobs who remain stuck in part-time employment. It's obvious from the context, however, that this wasn't what he was talking about. The real source of his remark was the "na…