Is There Any Hope for France?

In an article for Reason’s April 2014
issue Veronique de Rugy outlined the awful
situation France finds itself in, highlighting the country’s 11
percent unemployment rate and its annual growth rate of 0 percent.
The article also mentions the fondness for tax increases displayed
not only by the current Socialist President Francois Hollande but
also his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy.

The article hit newsstands about a week before the second round
of French
local elections, which resulted in losses for the Socialists
and gains for the right-leaning Union for a Popular movement and
the nationalistic and xenophobic National Front.

In a blog post written after the elections, British
libertarian-leaning Conservative Member of the European Parliament
Daniel Hannan
highlighted the shocking level of industrial action in
France:

Only 40 percent of French people are in work of any kind, as
against 60 percent of Swiss. More days are lost through industrial
action than in any other EU state:  27 days per thousand
people per year, as opposed to 3.4 days  in Germany. The
French state last ran a surplus in 1974. The money has run out.

Hannan went on to write that Marine Le Pen, the leader of the
National Front, pushed for economic policies “arguably to the Left
of the Socialists”:

It is important to understand that Marine Le Pen positioned
herself to the Left of the UMP and, at least on economics, arguably
to the Left of the Socialists. She railed against capitalism and
globalisation, called for higher expenditure, and supported
state-run energy, healthcare, education, transport and financial
services.

The French National Front is not the only nationalist European
political party pushing for more government involvement in the
economy. In the U.K, the xenophobic British National Party
advocates for the abolition of university tuition
fees, protecting “British companies from unfair foreign
imports,” and other big government policies.

Despite the dismal state France finds itself in de Rugy believes
that “For cockeyed optimists, there are still slivers of hope”:

During his New Year address, Hollande turned into a rhetorical
supply-sider, making the case for cutting taxes and public
spending, improving competitiveness, and creating a more
investor-friendly climate. He also promised French businesses a
“responsibility pact” to cut labor-force restrictions and thus
promote increased hiring.

While free market economists don’t believe a word of this, it is
worth noting that France has reformed successfully before. Both the
1980s and the ’90s saw large waves of privatization, marginal tax
cuts, and slighter spending increases. To secure robust prosperity
for new French generations, leaders should extend the lessons of
these brief shining moments by seriously tackling government
spending and reining in destructive tax rates.

I hope the French Socialist president will learn from the past,
but I’m not getting my hopes up. 

More from Reason on France here.