identified a second asymmetry: namely, the preference of employ-
ers for long hours, which makes it difficult to translate productivity
increases into free time. With this insight, I began to scrutinize the
consensus view that capitalism has delivered increases in leisure.
And I found that far from raising leisure time, the development of
capitalism involved a tremendous expansion of human effort. Peo-
ple began to work longer and harder. In this new light, I reinterpre-
ted the postwar U.S. experience of stable and then rising hours.
This book is an attempt to understand that experience.

Since the research program associated with my ideas is just be-
ginning, I offer this book in the hope not that it has settled difficult
questions, but rather that it will spur new lines of inquiry and new
debates. If nothing else, I hope to help revive the public discussion
on hours of work which died out fifty years ago.

I have incurred many debts over the last few years connected with
this work. Perhaps the largest is to Laura Leete-Guy, with whom I
jointly constructed the estimates of worktime which form the core
of the book. I am afraid that in the process Laura was turned into
an overworked American herself. I am very grateful for her collabo-
ration. I am also much indebted to a few friends and colleagues
who generously read nearly the entire manuscript: Sam Bowles,
Jerry Epstein, Laurie Sheridan, and my husband, Prasannan Par-
thasarathi. Individual chapters were read by Allen Steinberg, Nancy
Folbre, Jim Duesenberry, and Daniel Cantor. Each of these readers
gave me invaluable help and criticism. They proved to be a gold
mine of penetrating ideas. I have not done their comments justice,
but the book is certainly better as a result of their contributions. I
am grateful to all of them.

Many others have helped along the way, with comments on the
papers that led up to this book or discussions on the material. I
would like to thank Steve Marglin, Tibor Scitovsky, Paul Streeten,
Herb Gintis, Larry Mishel, Michele Naples, Tom Michl, David Gor-
don, Clair Brown, Robert Cilman, James Schor, Claudia Goldin,
Jong-il You, Shannon Stimson, and two anonymous journal review-
ers. I am also grateful for a steady stream of materials from friends:
Elaine Bernard, Sam Bowles, Daniel Cantor, Teresa Ghilarducci,
Steve Marglin, Larry Mishel, and Cheryl Passalaqua. I am especially
appreciative of Laurie Sheridan's willingness to share the transcript

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