Alex Tabarrok doesn’t conserve water:

One thing that does annoy me is the claim that these urinals “save” 40,000 thousand gallons of water a year.  Water is not an endangered species. With local exceptions, water is a renewable resource and in plentiful supply.  At the average U.S. price, you can buy 40,000 gallons of water for about $80.

In 2004, the same year he won the Nobel Prize prize in economics, economist Edward Prescott of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis published a paper titled “Why do Americans Work So Much More than Europeans?”

Americans now work 50 percent more than do the Germans, French, and Italians. This was not the case in the early 1970s when the Western Europeans worked more than Americans…The surprising finding is that this marginal tax rate accounts for the predominance of the differences at points in time and the large change in relative labor supply over time with the exception of the Italian labor supply in the early 1970s. This finding has important implications for policy, in particular for making social security programs solvent.

Prescott found that the average output of an American worker between 1993 and 1996 was 75 percent greater than Italy, 49 percent greater than the UK, and 35 percent greater than France and Germany. “Most of the differences in output,” Prescott wrote, were “accounted for by differences in hours worked per person and not by differences in productivity.”

James Glassman explains:

In other words, Americans don’t work any more efficiently than Germans; we just work a lot more. Not only do we work longer hours each week and take fewer vacations; we also work more years of our lives, and a higher proportion of our adults are working. In 2007, for example, American men, on average, retired at age 64.6, while Frenchmen retired at just 58.7 and Austrians at 58.9. That same year, 72 percent of Americans, aged 15 to 64, were in the workforce, compared with 59 percent of Italians and 64 percent of French.

If we attack gas companies for boosting prices, we might as well go after the post office. Well, only if we want to be consistent in our absurdities.

Mark Perry explains:

Over the last 90+ years, the average retail price of gasoline has increased about 11.7 times, from 25.5 cents per gallon in 1919 to a projected $2.98 per gallon in 2011, according to annual gas price data from the EIA.  That’s slightly less than the projected 12.9 time increase in the Consumer Price Index from 1919 to 2011 (see EIA data), meaning that the real price of gas has fallen over this period.  Over the same period, the price of a first-class stamp in the U.S. has increased 23X, from 2 cents in 1919 to 46 cents in 2011 starting next year if the rate increase is approved (historical stamp price data available here).  That means that first-class stamps have gone up in price at about twice the rate of both gasoline prices and overall consumer prices in general.

The chart above compares stamp prices, retail gas prices and the CPI using an index that is equal to 100 in 1919 for all three series, and includes the CPI index from 1919-2011, also equal to 100 in 1919. If stamp prices had increased over time at “only” the rate of gas prices, a first-class stamp would only cost only about 24 cents today instead of 44-46 cents. If stamp prices had increased at the same rate as consumer prices in general, stamps today would cost about 26 cents.

The Iranian government has released a list of acceptable and banned hairstyles for men in an effort to rid the country of “decadent Western cuts”, the Telegraph reports.

The banned list includes ponytails, mullets and spikes. The “journal of Iranian hairstyles approved by the ministry of [culture and Islamic] guidance” was presented at a government-approved hairdressing show in Tehran.

“The proposed styles are inspired by Iranians’ complexion, culture and religion, and Islamic law,” said the head of a Modesty and Veil Festival. “We are happy that the Islamic republic of Iran’s government has backed us in designing these hairstyles.”

Iranian police carry out regular morality checks, arresting women in short coats and flimsy headscarves as well as men sporting spiky hair and tight, low-slung jeans. Ties are also viewed with suspicion as a symbol of Western decadence.

Conservative clerics have called for firmer action against un-Islamic dressers and criticised President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last month for expressing opposition to a tough police crackdown on immodest attire.

From my inbox:

Working in the wrong office?

ALMOST MAKES YOU WANT TO GO BACK TO WORK – AT LEAST AS AN EMPLOYEE OF GOOGLE!!

We are working in the Wrong Office.

Today, Google employs 20,223 people around the world, receiving a resume every 25 seconds from eager job-seekers, hiring an average of nine new employees a day.

A full-size replica of Virgin Atlantic ‘s Spaceship One (space tourist vehicle) hangs in the reception area.

Exercise

To work off the pounds, and the stress . . .Google has its own state-of-the-art gym . . . offering weight-training and a host of exercise machines, rowing machines, lockers and shower rooms, and two swim-in-place wave pools.

Other perks include free haircuts, dry cleaning and laundry, child care, car services, chiropractors and five onsite doctors available for employee check-ups; all free of charge. Perhaps the most unusual bonus of all… employees can bring their dogs to work with them and keep the four-legged canine in their offices.

We already know that working for Google has certain advantages, but, believe me, this giant of a search engine takes the welfare of its employees seriously as shown by this decompression (stress) capsule that is impermeable to sound and light….

A slide allows quick access from different floors…There are also poles available….they are similar to the ones used in fire stations.

Food

Employees can eat all they want for free from a vast choice of food and drink, whipped up by in-house chefs.

Work Station

Each employee has at least two large screens. There are 4-6 ‘Zooglers’ per office.

Leisure

Pool tables, video games, etc. are available in many areas.

Communication

On each floor, there are private cabin areas where employees attend to personal affairs.

Tech Stop

Having trouble with your computer?  No problem…Bring it to this area where drinks are available while it is being fixed…

Health

Professional massage therapists are available.

Ambiance

There are many books in this library…even some about programming!