All work and no play makes Jack an unproductive boy

Bloomberg Opinion Today

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Today's Agenda

Your punishing work schedule is counterproductive.
Trump had a bad election night, but not 2020-dooming bad.
Retailers are very, very, very bad at maternity wear.
Tiffany may soon get some better bids.

You Work Too Hard

America's true dominant faith, uniting people of all traditional religions, may be The Church of Ridiculously Long Hours. It's a cult and a fraud.

American workers clock longer hours than their counterparts in any other G-7 economy. But it's not doing them or their employers any good, writes Noah Smith. Because working longer is not the same as working better or smarter; in fact, fatigue makes workers less productive, which helps explain this chart:

France, Denmark and Germany work some of the shortest hours in the OECD, and they have the most productive workers. Coincidence? No. France also mandates 36 days of annual leave. Thirty-six days! When's the last time in your working adulthood you took 36 days off in a year that didn't involve a long illness/drinking binge? Never, that's when. In conclusion, America should be more like France. Until then, back to work, slackers.

Another Election Night, Another Blue Wave

Last night there were a bunch of off-year elections in America, and because we live in the President Donald Trump Era, we must care about all of them, on the assumption they portend the Fate of the Republic. The results weren't great for Trump and his Republicans: Virginia's legislature turned completely blue, as did key Pennsylvania suburbs. And Kentucky appears to have elected a Democratic governor, despite Trump's efforts to pump up the wildly unpopular GOP incumbent. The results give Republicans more reasons to worry about 2020 and also to reconsider blindly backing Trump in the impeachment fight, writes Jonathan Bernstein. But there's also a very good chance none of this will mean anything in a year.

For one thing, one of Trump's possible opponents next year is Senator Elizabeth Warren. She is an energetic campaigner and is steadily rolling up support, but she has also made a big, risky gambit in announcing a big, expensive health-care plan, argues Francis Wilkinson. Maybe it will work and not spook the kind of middle-ground voters turning Pennsylvania suburbs blue. Or maybe it will re-elect Trump.

Meanwhile, Trump's approval rating among minorities is shockingly durable (albeit quite low), partly because the economy is being particularly good to them, writes Karl Smith. This may not exactly be a reserve of political strength for Trump, but it isn't hurting.

And at a time when our elections are under seemingly constant foreign influence and attack, the Federal Election Commission, which could fight back, is hobbled, notes Bloomberg's editorial board. All of its current commissioners' terms have expired, and there aren't enough to form a quorum anyway. Trump has nominated a new commissioner, but Mitch McConnell is blocking his confirmation.

As if Pregnancy Weren't Hard Enough

Quick, what's your knee-jerk reaction to the photo below?

A — Wow, nice dress. I would like to purchase and/or wear one.

B — PUT DOWN THE MACARONS, LADY, GRANDMA'S DECORATIVE PILLOW IS EATING YOU!

If you answered "A," then you must be part of a maternity-wear-industrial complex making life miserable for whole generations of mothers-to-be. Maternity fashions are hard to shop for, ill-fitting and generally as ugly and/or embarrassing as the example above, writes Sarah Halzack (who is pregnant and wrote her column in a taped-together garment because she is a pro). Retailers are missing a huge opportunity here. Yeah, women don't get pregnant that often, but companies serving them well could attract lifelong loyal customers.

Deals Within Deals Within Deals

Long-named luxury behemoth LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton Cracker Barrel Atari SE (up to two of those names are not real) has offered to buy American jewelry maker Tiffany & Co. for $14.5 billion. But Tiffany apparently wants more, which is such a Tiffany thing to do. This is a golden opportunity for shorter-named luxury rivals to jump in with bids of their own, writes Andrea Felsted. The trouble is that, in addition to a very long name, LVMH also has very deep pockets.

Further Deal-Speculation Reading:

Tiny Xerox Holdings Corp. could buy HP Inc. It wouldn't be too big of a stretch and would help both. — Alex Webb
Stefano Pessina might just bite at taking Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. private. — Andrea Felsted