Leisure and Human Costs
On Wednesday afternoon, 24th of September 2009, as I was snoozing over my Macroeconomic theories, this topic worked like an alarm clock!!!
Leisure and Human Costs
According to Simon Kuznets, the inventor of Gross National Product, the failure to fully include leisure and human costs is one of the grave oddities of National Income accounting. National Income accounts exclude an unavoidable commodity that is valuable to everybody - 'leisure'. He also goes on to say that national product fails to take into account for the mental and physical stress due to a job.
What Guru Simon says cannot be more logical than the day and night theory. Now you know why our earth is tilted!!! It’s only as tilted as our logic is and so are our priorities too - which is why our road to happiness is. As we wind up in our offices to solve the problems of our director's company we exhaust ourselves of thinking straight beyond a point. We have the gift of thinking out of the box. This gift finds clones after a few years of sharing the same walls, pens, computers, aims, lunches, boyfriends thus 'problems' with all the others on your floor - which is why recruitments take place round the year - cause when you are in the box u cant bring much to the table. Now you know why recruitments take place through the year. The company grows but your pay check does not grow in the same proportion. Economics in this case gives way....
Moral of the story - Companies should give each of the employees paid hobby time and leisure hours. And more than that express and verbalize the importance of 'Leisure'. This leisure time does not include time off for marriage, paternity, death of a family member or heath issues. It includes time out - to unwind - And the BIG CEOs AND MDs will find that the Average Rewards of leisure’s will outdo the Average Costs. Leisure should now be legally included as a part of National Income' And a lot of economic theories will have to factor in a new 'multiplier' - the L factor.
MP = f (Leisure + Work)
Hail Simon!!!
Progressed well in the game. Welcome.
ReplyDeleteLeisure and hobby is a personal choice and not the responsibility of CEOs and MDs. Good companies have enough leisure activities in offices. What CEOs and MDs need to ensure is that their employees dont stay in offices for too long and employees have enough time for leisure.
ReplyDeleteAs for National Income accounting, thats for economists and other agencies to evolve the accounting methodology
Wot prasu said makes sense!!! my leisure activity is skiing in the Alps! somebody else s is to sleep the whole day thru!!! how will u account for these diversities? althoug hits a ver y altruistic thought , ppl pay ppl to work. Not to live!!!
ReplyDeletemy dear prasu and pooja ...... that is exactly the point I am trying to make.....for increased national productivity, leisure time also should be quantified as it plays an important role in increasing the overall GDP. I think you are speaking from an individual point of view.
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way Skiing in the Alps is a part of your bucket list...it would not quantify as being something you would do every week to unwind. What you would do is sing or dance or read or .......you know.