American workers are highly productive, even ranking ahead of the Germans and Austrians. We are right there with the Swiss, which is wild. Every country ahead of got there by some gimmick, like Ireland, Luxembourg, and Switzerland being tax havens, Norway sitting on a sea of oil, and Denmark printing cash with Ozempic. 

Most countries in the top ten have maximum working hours capped at 35-38 per week, and most require employers to provide at least a month of paid leave every year. 

Notably absent are countries where people work a lot of hours.