"America's growth historically has been fueled mostly by investment, education, productivity, innovation and immigration. The one thing that doesn't seem to have anything to do with America's growth rate is a brutal work schedule"
About this Quote
Fareed Zakaria challenges the worship of the grind by pointing to the real engines of American prosperity: capital deepening, broad access to education, rising productivity, a culture of innovation, and the constant infusion of energy and ideas from immigrants. The history bears him out. When the United States leapt forward, it was not because people simply worked more hours; it was because they worked smarter and with better tools. The land-grant colleges, the GI Bill, the interstate highway system, public and private R&D from DARPA to Bell Labs, and successive waves of immigrants who founded firms and filled laboratories all raised the output of each hour worked. That is the essence of growth.
Economists have long distinguished between piling on more labor and increasing productivity. Longer schedules add raw hours but face steep diminishing returns, not to mention fatigue, mistakes, and burnout. Productivity gains, by contrast, compound: one breakthrough spreads across a whole economy. The international evidence reinforces this point. Countries like Germany and the Netherlands maintain high living standards with shorter workweeks, while places famous for punishing hours, such as Japan, have struggled with productivity growth. Over time, American hours per worker have fallen even as GDP has soared, a sign that efficiency, not exhaustion, did the heavy lifting.
Zakaria also speaks to policy priorities. If national strength comes from education and innovation, then investing in schools, science, infrastructure, and immigration is not softhearted; it is strategic. Welcoming talent has repeatedly refreshed the American dynamo, from industrial-age inventors to today’s founders and researchers. A brutal work schedule may produce heroic anecdotes, but it is a poor macroeconomic strategy. Societies that protect time to learn, rest, and create end up with more ideas per hour, better health, and stronger institutions. The American story is a testament to systems that raise potential, not to the cult of sleeplessness.
Economists have long distinguished between piling on more labor and increasing productivity. Longer schedules add raw hours but face steep diminishing returns, not to mention fatigue, mistakes, and burnout. Productivity gains, by contrast, compound: one breakthrough spreads across a whole economy. The international evidence reinforces this point. Countries like Germany and the Netherlands maintain high living standards with shorter workweeks, while places famous for punishing hours, such as Japan, have struggled with productivity growth. Over time, American hours per worker have fallen even as GDP has soared, a sign that efficiency, not exhaustion, did the heavy lifting.
Zakaria also speaks to policy priorities. If national strength comes from education and innovation, then investing in schools, science, infrastructure, and immigration is not softhearted; it is strategic. Welcoming talent has repeatedly refreshed the American dynamo, from industrial-age inventors to today’s founders and researchers. A brutal work schedule may produce heroic anecdotes, but it is a poor macroeconomic strategy. Societies that protect time to learn, rest, and create end up with more ideas per hour, better health, and stronger institutions. The American story is a testament to systems that raise potential, not to the cult of sleeplessness.
Quote Details
| Topic | Work Ethic |
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