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.