Since the second post has been adequately replied to, I'll take the first one.
Guess what: If you produce half as much stuff, you can only consume half as much stuff (in the long-run).
Americans these days would benefit from consuming half of the junk food they eat, among other things. Demand is not a means in itself unless you subscribe to 19th-century theories of rationality.
A much better proposition is switching the standard work week from five days of eight hour shifts to four days of ten hour shifts. That could potentially boost productivity among individuals (people may be more productive doing forty hours spread over four days with three days of leisure at the end of the week being a huge motivation) while cutting unproductive costs for all involved (e.g., less space required in office due to staggering of shifts which implies lower energy costs, less driving to and from work for individual workers, and many, many more examples I am sure).
-As if people are forced to stop working after fourty hours. Now that leisure is freely available, the work week is a signal between work that is demanded and work that is appreciated...
-Not to mention how overtime is harder to manage when there is less time left during weekdays...
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Also, wouldn't someone drive longer during a weekend getaway than during a commute? Never mind, people also pay for something called "urban planning".
I'll refrain from pasting the Keynes quote on the long run because I'm not that pretentious. Could you at least pretend humans don't exist in a
ceteris paribus vacuum, though?
