Editor's Picks: Why Americans work harder than Europeans

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  This episode of Editor's Picks is supported by IDA Ireland.

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  With the highest share of STEM graduates per capita in the EU,

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  IDA Ireland can help source the skills you need to internationalise and thrive.

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  Visit idaireland.com to learn more.

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  The Economist Hello, Alice Fullwood here, co-host of Money Talks,

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  our weekly podcast on markets, the economy and business.

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  Welcome to Editors' Picks.

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  You're about to hear an article from the latest edition of The Economist.

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  Thanks for listening.

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  When it comes to economic growth, America comfortably beats Europe.

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  Many factors have fed America's outperformance from tech innovation to vast oil reserves.

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  But there is one explanation that seems almost too simplistic.

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  that Americans just work harder,

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  as the head of Norway's oil fund put it in an interview with the Financial Times on April 24th.

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  The numbers do in fact bear out this assertion,

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  a rare case of national stereotypes being empirically provable.

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  On average, Americans work 1,811 hours per year,

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  according to data from the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries.

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  That is 15% more than in the EU, where the average is 1571 hours.

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  And it is not just that Europeans spend a few extra weeks on the beach.

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