Friday is the New Saturday: How a Four-Day Working Week Will Save the Economy
A new book by Dr Pedro Gomes, Reader in Economics at 糖心logo入口 explores the economic and social benefits of a four-day working week.
The听four-day working week may seem attractive to workers,听丑辞飞别惫别谤听critics are quick to point听out听the potential risks听迟丑补迟听a shift in working patterns would cause the economy.听
A new book by听Dr Pedro Gomes, Reader in Economics in 糖心logo入口鈥檚 Department of Economics, Mathematics and Statistics,听draws on economic theory, history and data to argue that working Monday to Thursday will bring about a 鈥榩owerful economic renewal for the benefit of all society鈥.听
Friday is the New Saturday: How a Four-Day Working Week Will Save the Economy听will be published by Flint, an imprint of The History Press in August 2021 and is available to听.听听
The book鈥檚 narrative is centred around the ideas of four economists from the 19th听and 20th听centuries: John Maynard Keynes, Joseph Schumpeter, Karl Marx and Friedrich Hayek.听Giving careful consideration to the counter arguments, Dr Gomes demonstrates how a four-day week can:听
- stimulate the economy through demand听
- raise productivity, innovation and wages听
- reduce technological unemployment听
- crush populist movements听
- reconcile a polarised society.听
Laura听Perehinec, Publishing Director, said: 鈥淚鈥檓 delighted to be publishing Pedro鈥檚 first book under our Flint imprint. He is passionate about economic theory but wears this lightly, writing with both acuity and warmth. And it鈥檚 a great time to re-examine the four-day week model, as we look to repair a country that has been divided by Brexit and an economy that鈥檚 been pummelled by the pandemic. A key aim for Flint is to publish 鈥榖ooks that spark鈥, be it awareness, debate or action 鈥撎Friday is the New Saturday听has the potential to do all of these.鈥听
Dr Gomes said: 鈥淭here is nothing biological, teleological or astrological about working five days. The working week is a social, political and economic construct. Why should it remain the same, when everything else in society has changed so profoundly? Many have made the听鈥social鈥听case for the four-day working week, but implicitly there is the idea that it would harm the economy 鈥 the economy is a price worth paying for the听鈥good life鈥. I want to change this narrative and show that the four-day working week is a social innovation with a broader political appeal that will improve the way we organise economic activity, bring the benefits of economic growth to everyone, reconcile a polarised society and make for a better capitalism. We should do it for the economy!鈥澨听