""The country is ready for the five day week. It is bound to come through all industry. In adopting it ourselves, we are putting it into effect in about fifty industries, for we are coal miners, iron miners, lumbermen, and so on. The short week is bound to come, because without it the country will not be able to absorb its production and stay prosperous.<p>"The harder we crowd business for time, the more efficient it becomes. The more well-paid leisure workmen get, the greater become their wants. These wants soon become needs. Well-managed business pays high wages and sells at low prices. Its workmen have the leisure to enjoy life and the wherewithal with which to finance that enjoyment.<p>"The industry of this country could not long exist if factories generally went back to the ten hour day, because the people would not have the time to consume the goods produced. For instance, a workman would have little use for an automobile if he had to be in the shops from dawn until dusk. And that would react in countless directions, for the automobile, by enabling people to get about quickly and easily, gives them a chance to find out what is going on in the world-which leads them to a larger life that requires more food, more and better goods, more books, more music -- more of everything. The benefits of travel are not confined to those who can take an expensive foreign trip. There is more to learn in this country than there is abroad."<p><a href="http://www.worklessparty.org/timework/ford.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.worklessparty.org/timework/ford.htm</a><p>Henry Ford knew the answer 90 years ago, the key to keeping consumption up is to give people time to spend it. Think about it this way, a 5 day work week is 25% longer than a 4 day work week but most importantly gives people 50% more leisure time. During this leisure time people will consume more. Transitioning to a 4 day work week (with 5 days pay) would result in 50% more time to consume and would eliminate unemployment almost immediately.<p>The best thing the government could do to solve unemployment problems is to make a 4 day work week standard and institute overtime for the 5th day. The reality of the situation is that large numbers of unemployed people lead to instability in the political realm.