The economic value of the health impacts was based on premature mortality, workdays lost, and other direct costs to the healthcare system resulting from emissions of PM2.5, NOx, and SO2.

FORBES: How Much Do Health Impacts From Fossil Fuel Electricity Cost The U.S. Economy?

And, of course, the unions' members on the whole enjoy relatively short workdays and long holidays.

ECONOMIST: Behind-the-scenes politics

Mr. Huerta and the FAA appear to have ignored the directive, shovelled out the bonus money, and then turned a budget cut of roughly 4% into a furlough of air-traffic controllers on 10% of their scheduled workdays.

WSJ: Review & Outlook: FAA Bonuses and the Sequester

The software developer, in his 40s, is thought to have spent his workdays surfing the web, watching cat videos on YouTube and browsing Reddit and eBay.

BBC: US employee 'outsourced job to China'