This announcement made a couple of weeks ago has been playing in the back of my mind for some time now, and there wasn’t a 
great deal of publicity at the time I felt, or rather, it wasn’t taken as seriously as perhaps it should have been. A report by thinktank the New Economic Foundation, says over-consumption, rising unemployment, increasing inequality and deteriorating work life balance can be tackled by radically altering working life. A twenty-one hour week, the report argues, would be the optimum amount of time, in effect a four day working week.
For a long time, (especially when I was grinding out a thirty-seven and a half hour office marathon every week), the idea of a three day weekend seemed such a wonderful idea – and just such an obvious solution to many of society’s problems. But I always thought my own absolute ignorance of economics and general naivety were getting the better of me. But now professional economists have come to the same conclusion. Hallelujah! I don’t suppose these changes will happen for another generation or so, not at least until generation X, or Y are in control of things. But all that’s needed is the political will. Why can’t we just accept that the economy is fucked, probably forever, and concentrate on building a better society? We need to liberate ourselves from the collective madness of over-working, the sooner the better.