Opinion
Abolish a holiday? This distracts from the real problems!
In order to promote the country economically, we should do without one or two holidays, according to economists such as Michael Hüther or Moritz Schularick. Really now?
Whenever the economy is paralyzed, the suggestion comes somewhere that you can abolish a holiday. Or two. In fact, there is currently a lot in the argument economically, but on too many holidays it is not that we have no growth for the third year in a row. There is simply a lack of innovative strength in the country.
The fact that this has nothing to do with public holidays is clearly illustrated by the fact that the state also achieves the highest economic output per capita with most public holidays in Germany, namely Bavaria, among the countries.
Instead of abolishing holidays, we should hug new technologies
The prosperity is not based on the fact that we all work as much as possible, but that we do it as efficiently as possible. Productivity is the keyword. That has been wearing us for a long time, but since the mid -nineties, the growth of labor productivity has become less year after year – until productivity decreased for the first time in the past two years. This leads to the fact that economic output has shrank in the past two years, although the Germans have recently worked as many hours than ever before.
But what could increase productivity again?
Germany is still lagging behind other EU countries in the digitization of the economy and administration. A fully digitized administration would also significantly mitigate the bureaucratic hurdles, which would also benefit productivity. Artificial intelligence could now be an engine to significantly increase labor productivity. The German economy has shown significant weaknesses in recent years when it comes to taking up new technologies. The fate of our automotive industry, which completely slept down to e-mobility, underlines this all too clearly.
Precede: Grade and Bed Day
Of course, one holiday would increase the economic output unique – in fact, by about 0.2 percent. But would that be fair too? After all, it is the fault of politics and the economy that productivity is paralyzed, not from every single employee.
Working hours: Are Germans lazy than the rest of the EU?
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Belgium According to the figures of the German Economy Institute (IW), Belgium is located at the bottom of the scale at 1021 per employee – the lowest working hours among the evaluated countries. The gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is 46,231 euros, which is located compared to the upper edge of the productivity scale. Despite the short working time, Belgium manages to achieve high productivity. © Philip Reynaers More 
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Further
There is a precedent: 30 years ago, a nationwide holiday, the day of penance and bed, was abolished. At that time it was about the distribution of the costs for the newly introduced long -term care insurance. The deal was: the employers cover half of the costs, but the employees work one day more. And today? Letting everyone work more one day would be a one -sided gift to the employer. Politically prescribed. Because what would the consideration be?
The holidays discussed, such as Whit Monday and Ascension Day, are opportunities to take a short vacation with the family. Switch off. The work has become denser in recent years, more flexible, for many delegates. Mobile phone, email and chats make employees constantly accessible, verifiable. The home office makes it easier to reconcile work and family, but it also makes the boundaries blur. The ever faster technical change demands a lot.
With all of this, holidays are an important anchor. The work rests for most. A small brake in everyday life, time for family and friends, for common ground. And that is important in order to be productive in the job.
By the way, my colleague Rolf-Herbert Peters sees it very differently. You can read his arguments here.
Source: Stern
