In its article on the run-off in the French presidential election, the Post tells readers that Nicolas Sarkozy, the conservative candidate, wants to cut taxes by $90 billion over the next ten years. That's a really useful number. I'm sure that all of the Post's readers know the size of the French economy and budget, so they immediately can assess how important this tax cut will be to people's pocketbooks and the government budget. Does anyone believe that this number is meaningful to any substantial share of the people who see it? How about 0.1 percent. On an exchange rate basis, France's GDP is about $2.2 trillion. This means that the proposed tax cut of $9 billion a year would be equal to about 0.4 percent of GDP. With a population of 63 million it comes to a bit less than $150 per person per year.
--Dean Baker
