Over the past quarter of a century, France has tumbled from eighth to 19th in national rankings of gross domestic product per head.

and this:

Not only do French people enter the workforce later than in most other countries, they then work fewer hours and retire earlier.

are related. Assuming of course, that people value their leisure time :) Work to live, not live to work.

What I would like to see is a comparison over time based on the UNs Human Development Index or some of those subjective measures of happiness. Where did Europe stand relative to the US in 1980 compared to now?

Ah yes, here we are: