ARNOLD KLING
August 14, 2011
The Top Political Contributors
August 11, 2011
Gender and the New Commanding Heights
August 11, 2011
Jamie Galbraith Makes an Assumption
August 11, 2011
Macroeconometrics: The Science of Hubris
August 10, 2011
Real and Nominal Bond Yields
BRYAN CAPLAN
August 14, 2011
The Effect of Thumb Sucking on Income
August 12, 2011
The Voice of Cold, Hard Truth to All Would-Be Educators
August 12, 2011
Ability, Morality, and Prosperity: A Paper and a Report
August 11, 2011
The Theory of Time and Frittering
August 10, 2011
Male Variance and the Remnants of the Gender Gap
DAVID HENDERSON
August 9, 2011
Hayek in "Unbroken", Part Two
August 8, 2011
Hayek in "Unbroken"
August 5, 2011
James Bovard on the Peace Corps
August 4, 2011
Summers Way Off on FDR and 1941
August 3, 2011
The "Amazon" Tax
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In what way is this a problem in French labour markets? What evidence have you got against the alternative hypothesis that this represents value added for the French customer, and that the French retail sector operates in this way because the French retail customer likes it? Do you think a French economist would pick up a blog post about ignorant sales assistants and say "evidence that there are serious problems in American labour markets"?
I think the point is that the entrenched job security leads to many people not doing their job. I have no idea what they talked about for half an hour, but I doubt she was doing her job when it might have turned away many other customers and revenue for her employer.
Matthew's point is one tack at it.
A second: if the labour market weren't so constrained, wouldn't it be likely that the Sartre guy would be hired doing something other than shop assistant? Sure, the customer might be happy having the half-hour chat, but surely the guy's marginal product would be higher elsewhere.
Based on anecdotal evidence I can say that most Swedes visiting the US are negatively suprised
by the low quality of service in stores.
Also, I interpreted Tyler as joking when he descirbed them talking about Sartre and Heidegger. Really, how plausible does it sound?