Kudlow: "Paddle the French Fanny"

Writing in Townhall, Larry Kudlow states quite simply why the French economy is so lacking and non-productive.

Then I have to scratch my head and wonder why the French feel that the mediocre status quo is worth lifting a finger to protect let alone riot in favor of.

Why is it that so many French people would rather riot than work?
For nearly a fortnight, French students repeatedly have taken to the streets in protest of a modest labor reform proposed by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin. It seems that Villepin had the audacity to suggest that companies hiring workers under the age of 26 have the ability to fire those workers in the first two years of employment. Villepin’s far-from-Draconian reform is a reaction to the country’s government-planned entitlement state, overregulated labor laws, and sky-high jobless rate.

But French students apparently prefer their little worker’s paradise just the way it is. The overall jobless rate in France hovers around 10 percent, so-called “youth unemployment” is 23 percent, and in some of the Muslim-heavy suburbs, joblessness is nearly 50 percent. Some paradise.

In France, you see, companies don’t grow because it’s too costly to hire while it’s against the law to fire. Hence, since they rarely add jobs, French businesses under-perform, under-produce, and under-employ. Think of it: It’s awfully tough to increase output without a growing workforce to produce it.

Socialism does more than ruin the economy--it sucks the spirit out of people. It removes their drive, their innovativeness, and their pursuit of excellence.

France is racing to become a third world nation--something that most people, unlulled by the utopian promises would go to war to prevent--not riot to protect.