France recently had an election that brought in a new and seemingly less haughty leader by the Name of Francois Hollande. It would lead one to consider that this taciturn gentleman would be more aware of the complexity of economic policy but that is evidently not so. Seeking to implement a campaign promise, the new leader has sought to fortify the already bad policy of the 35-hour week by reversing the tax advantage for working beyond this limit. Kim Wilsher's article in the Guardian reports on the unbelievable policy change that raises taxes for working longer.
This tax constraint on individuals that seek to work beyond the prescribed 35-hour week makes no sense since this policy has not led to the creation of more employment. In my understanding, the 35-hour week was instituted to ensure that employment is available for many more people than would be the case in the event that a portion of the work force chose to work for longer periods. That argument is based on the fallacious assumption that every economy has a fixed amount of work available which should be distributed to reduce employment levels. Students of economics recognize this as the "Lump of Labour Fallacy". One would wonder why even after this restriction, a political party would choose to restrict those who may want to work beyond that limit from making extra income. Discouraging work has never created more employment so perhaps the government should justify this as an attempt to collect more money. Good luck with that.
This tax constraint on individuals that seek to work beyond the prescribed 35-hour week makes no sense since this policy has not led to the creation of more employment. In my understanding, the 35-hour week was instituted to ensure that employment is available for many more people than would be the case in the event that a portion of the work force chose to work for longer periods. That argument is based on the fallacious assumption that every economy has a fixed amount of work available which should be distributed to reduce employment levels. Students of economics recognize this as the "Lump of Labour Fallacy". One would wonder why even after this restriction, a political party would choose to restrict those who may want to work beyond that limit from making extra income. Discouraging work has never created more employment so perhaps the government should justify this as an attempt to collect more money. Good luck with that.
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