French Utopian Dreams
Larry Kudlow has a great column on National Review Online about the failure of France's socialist utopian economy.
French students have been joined by powerful labor unions in their protest against a proposed revision to French law that would allow companies to fire non-performing workers during the first two years of employment.
New employees currently receive 5 weeks of paid vacation, a 35-hour work week, and, because it's so difficult to get rid of a bad employee, a de facto guarantee of "employment for life". As a result, French businesses aren't willing to invest in growth and new employees. The costs are too high.
France is a true socialist nation, creating a populace dependent on "the state" to provide for their wants and needs, which results in a dearth of innovation and personal ambition.
posted by The Phantom Republican @ 11:15 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Tell this to my French friends. Tell it to the one who is an intensely ambitious and competitive architect, always fighting for bigger and better commissions and often getting them, and in the process generating a mini-tornado of economic activity. Tell it his children who are just graduating from professional schools and embarking, with the same ambitious and competitive spirit, on their careers. Tell it to the skyrocketing real estate prices in Paris and Toulouse. Tell it to Toulouse in general--Toulouse which is emerging as a powerful high-tech economic engine in its own right, a French Silicon Valley. France is as diverse and complex a nation as our own. Observe more closely before you speak with such assurance.
P.S. Kudos to your observation of the journalist bias inherent in the hackneyed juxtaposition of the wealthy diners and the rioters outside.
Ah, the beauty of making broad generalizations...
Tom, I'm really heartened to read your comments. Seriously. Nobody wants to see an entire country go down the drain. Not that I think France would, as long as there are people like your friends out there working hard...
My question to you is, what do your French friends think of this whole situation? Is it a big deal to them, or do they think it's just goofy college kids, or just the usual French riot/strike time of year, or something else? I mean no disrespect, I'm just curious because we don't usually hear from those voices in this country.
Hopefully you come back and read this and we can get a good discussion going. Thanks!
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