The textbook model of consumption assumes that workers can choose freely between labor and leisure. That assumption is increasingly unrealistic in the United States today. Instead, Americans are forced to work long and growing hours, as the author’s analysis has shown. The author proposes a number of structural changes in labor markets and employment practices that would give workers a real choice about their hours of work, and speculates about the impact of such changes on consumerism, leisure activities, and the environment.
