QandO

June 30, 2004

French rediscover the wheel
Posted by McQ

Under the heading "a blinding flash of the obvious", France's finance minister had this to say:

"We simply have to accept that those who want to work longer to earn more should be allowed to do it," he said.

How very descent of you! You'll actually allow people to decide on their own what amount of work they wish to do and what income level they want to attain?

How freakin' gracious of the government of France.

Of course, reality is a hard teacher, and reality says they can have more money to throw into the welfare pot if they allow the motivated to work more and earn more.

The 35-hour week is putting a huge strain on the French economy, Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has said.

In an interview with newspapers Les Echos and the FT, Mr Sarkozy blamed tight restrictions on working hours for France's budgetary problems.

The policy directly costs the French Government and firms 16bn euros (£10.6bn; $19bn) a year, Mr Sarkozy said.

And by restricting companies, the rule has left the French economy far less flexible than its competitors.

Apparently unaware of how it works in the rest of the world, the French have finally figured this out. My guess is the Finance minister isn't really French which explains the revelation.

They've also figured out that if they couple this "new" concept with Hillary's recently voiced philosophy they have the makings of socialist heaven ... let some earn more so government can take more. Liberty, fraternity, equality ... Vive la France!

That is, of course, until Atlas shrugs. When that happens, 10% unemployment may be remembered as the good old days.

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