The Mark Weisbrot column John links to on France's economic situation makes some good points, though it does seem to diminish France's poor economic performance by omitting statistics on such minor matters as, say, GDP growth. That said, it does bring up a point I like to harp on whenever possible.
Another mistake that is commonly made in this debate is to compare France's income or GDP per person to the U.S., by which France lags: $30,693 for France versus $43,144 for the U.S. (these are adjusted for purchasing power parity). But this is not a fair comparison, because the French do not work nearly as many hours as we do in the United States. Economists do not say that one person is worse off than another if she has less income simply due to working fewer hours.
Right. Yes. Thank you. As a caveat, there's a certain amount of dispute as to whether the French could work more hours if they so chose, but in any case, there's not a 1:1 comparison to be made here. If you make $80,000 and work 65 hours a week, and I make $40,000 and work $35 hours a week, there's a real question as to who is "better off," despite the efforts of economic commentators to define the term as nothing more than a measure of take-home pay.
Which reminds me: I would love it if I had the option of sacrificing some income for more vacation days. If I could choose to make X amount less in order to have proportionately more vacation days, I'd take that bargain in an instant. I'm young, I'm childless, I have friends and family scattered around the nation -- having more time to travel would be worth a lot to me. I'm in Seattle for a conference, for instance, and would much rather I could tack some time onto the end of the trip and actually explore Seattle. But such a deal is never offered. In fact, I've never even heard of such a deal being offered. It's a shame, and one reason I'm a bit unconvinced by the ceaseless bashing of France. I'm more likely to get rich in American, to be sure, but I'm far less likely to have the opportunity to enjoy my wealth.
Speaking of Which: I'm conferencing in Seattle this week, and have asked the Weekenders to pitch in. I'll still be posting, just at slightly reduced frequency, so they're kindly helping out.
