EVEN CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS HATE THE FRENCH:

Vive la France! Vive le 'joblessness'? (The Monitor's View, 3/23/06, CS Monitor)

Today's world economy demands a fresh approach to work, including a flexible labor force. Yet young French people - and many other Europeans - want nothing to do with the so-called "Anglo-Saxon" model, which they feel is heartless. Pulling their fluffy duvets over their heads, they'd rather dream of the jobs-for-life their parents enjoyed since the end of World War II. [...]

One could brush the demonstrations aside as typical French protests - practically a rite of spring in la république. But they point to an overall resistance that will make economic and social reform that much harder in the future.

Each year of delayed reform will only prolong the sluggishness of the French economy and high joblessness. According to an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development index that measures restrictive job environments, French job inflexibility is nearly 15 times higher than in the US, where workers can expect to change jobs six times in their career. The US jobless rate is less than 5 percent, while in France it hovers near 10 percent.

"fluffy duvets"? Nice shot!

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 22, 2006 6:22 PM