The French Experience

Chart by G. Trumbull (2001)

The govt of France wanted to reduce unemployment. They reduced the standard legal workweek from 39 hours to 35 hours. The change occurred on January 1, 2000. The new law provided significant disincentives for overtime work. Working under the old 39-hour standard, 8 workers would account for 312 hours of work per week. Under the new 35-hour standard, the same amount of work would require about 9 workers. Was the 35-hour week successful?

Election Results

Jerry Brown

In my last article, I recommended ballot choices
for voters in Petaluma, Sonoma County, California, USA in the election on November 2, 2010. Here is a review of those recommendations, and how the election worked out.

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