I sometimes joke that the French are the world’s most statist people. I have no idea if that is actually true, but the latest protests in France certainly are a good piece of evidence. French workers (especially government bureaucrats) are protesting a plan to increase the retirement age from 60 to 62. They apparently think marching in the street will magically change demographic reality. I discuss this issue in a new Cato Institute Podcast.
Incidentally, my comments are not favorable to Sarkozy. I point out that his pension proposal is just a tiny step in the right direction, and that any positive impact is undermined by concomitant class-warfare tax increases.
I can assure you France is THE most socialist country in Europe – I always say that. Minimum wage law, highest youth unemplyoment, radio quotas, highest spending, corruption, the number of labor union exceeding the number of workers, HADOPI law et cetera. And I was just laughing at the miserable French performance in this report: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/09/the-most-generous-countries-on-earth/?src=twt&twt=nytimeseconomix – the World Giving Index. France – big attitude, evil greed.
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[…] Good policy makes a difference. But it also helps to have rational citizens (unlike France, where people vote for economic illiterates and protest against reality). […]
[…] Good policy makes a difference. But it also helps to have rational citizens (unlike France, where people vote for economic illiterates and protest against reality). […]
[…] also helps to have rational citizens (unlike France, where people vote for economic illiterates and protest against reality). While spending cuts have triggered strikes, social unrest and the toppling of governments in […]
[…] also helps to have rational citizens (unlike France, where people vote for economic illiterates and protest against reality). While spending cuts have triggered strikes, social unrest and the toppling of governments in […]