Economist makes some strong claims about France | 46 comments (46 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Here's the capitalism poll they cite:

They do admit:

In March, the Paris bourse soared to its highest level since 2001. Latest financial results show record profits for the country's top 40 companies in 2005, up 50% on 2004. Last year, French companies were the world's third-biggest source of global cross-border takeovers. From banking to telecoms, cosmetics to glassmaking, corporate France is in expansionist mood, gleefully striding into new markets, trampling over competitors and exploiting the globalised economy.

and

France is less unionised than America, and very few days are lost to strikes.

The article goes on to distinguish between the grandes ecoles whose graduates walk into highly protected jobs, and the majority of students who get short-term contracts - or chomage. It is the latter group that is protesting, because the CPE does nothing to grant them access to the upper-tier grande ecole positions.

by tyronen on Fri Mar 31st, 2006 at 12:17:46 PM EST

Re: Some more context (none / 0)

You know, in Spain we don't have Grandes Ecoles, so everyone gets shitty contracts, or paro.

Well, we do have lower-quality, expensive private universities where those who can't get into the real universities but have a wealthy daddy can go, and then get a cushy job through the "job pools" that these universities set up for their graduates.

I am being slightly unfair to the Catholic universities, which are actually quite good quality, but expensive, elitist and ideologically rancid.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Mar 31st, 2006 at 12:27:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Some more context (none / 1)

I wonder if the question even means the same thing in the different languages?

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Fri Mar 31st, 2006 at 12:27:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Some more context (none / 0)

"The best system on which to base the future of the world", no less.

If someone asked me that question I would just gape at them in astonishment.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Mar 31st, 2006 at 12:28:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Some more context (none / 0)

I meant the word for "capitalism", but your point stands as well.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Fri Mar 31st, 2006 at 12:37:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Some more context (none / 0)

They say "the free-enterprise system and the free-market economy", not "capitalism".

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Mar 31st, 2006 at 12:38:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Some more context (none / 0)

I'm losing my mind. Still not exactly well defined, is it?

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Fri Mar 31st, 2006 at 12:39:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Some more context (none / 0)

I'm trying to read one of the OECD reports from last year on employment protection and it appears that a key difference between Ireland and France is that France restricts the applicability of temporary fixed-term contracts.

The indices are, of course, chosen to make their point ...

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Fri Mar 31st, 2006 at 12:36:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Some more context (none / 0)

"restricts the applicability"?

A fixed-term contract in France can't go beyond six months, and you can't line up more than three of them in a row (ie 3x6 = 18 months). If you want to keep the same employee on after that, you have to offer an indefinite contract.

Is that what you meant?

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Fri Mar 31st, 2006 at 01:56:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Some more context (none / 0)

Restricted to "objective situations" (replacement, seasonal
work, temporary increases in company activity). The maximum
duration of 18 month in principle but can vary from 9 to
24 months. A new contract on the same post can only start
after a waiting period amounting to one third of initial contract.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Fri Mar 31st, 2006 at 02:29:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Some more context (none / 0)

As discussed in the Grandes Ecoles thread, these Ecoles only train about 3% of a generation, so that's hardly the category that monopolises all the protected jobs. Most of them work in the private sector; they do get undefined duration full time contracts, but they are not protected by law from layoffs more than other wage earners.

Actually, those with the lowest unemployment rate, and the highest employment rate, are those with a "Bac+2", i.e. a short university degree(usually, technical/commercial) - they are doing even better than those with post-graduate diplomas.

Le monde had very detailed graphs about unemployment numbers linked to diplomas, but I cannot find them now.

I have found this, but not the post on ET where I translated it...

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Fri Mar 31st, 2006 at 02:42:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Some more context (none / 0)

Thanks, Tyronen for answering my question about that poll. I should have suspected it might be behind a subscription wall within The Economist.

And your second point --

The article goes on to distinguish between the grandes ecoles whose graduates walk into highly protected jobs, and the majority of students who get short-term contracts - or chomage. It is the latter group that is protesting, because the CPE does nothing to grant them access to the upper-tier grande ecole positions.

-- answers much of the question I posed in a comment in the Grandes Ecoles thread.

Point n'est besoin d'espérer pour entreprendre, ni de réussir pour persévérer. - Charles le Téméraire

by marco on Fri Mar 31st, 2006 at 05:33:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Some more context (none / 0)

Here's the origin of the poll carried out by GlobeScan and the Program on International Policy Attitudes of the University of Maryland, Jan 2006.

Here's a chart of other results from this poll:

What people understand by "free markets" being "the future of the world" is perhaps not what the Economist trumpets...

Quote from the director of the political analysis side of the study:

Steven Kull, director of PIPA, comments: "In one sense we are indeed facing what has been called `the end of history,' in that there is now an extraordinary level of consensus about the best economic system. But this is not the victory of one side of the dialectic. While there is overwhelming support for free markets, there is also near-unanimous rejection of unbridled capitalism, with people around the world overwhelmingly favoring greater government regulation of large companies and more protection of workers and consumers."

The Economist forgot that bit :-)

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sat Apr 1st, 2006 at 01:12:13 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Economist makes some strong claims about France | 46 comments (46 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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