Well done Nick! Now France, that most amazing of countries culturally and geographically, will retake its rightful place as a forward-looking economy. At last, Britain will have some competition in Europe, after decades of France on its knees thanks to decades of feckless socialism.
What happens next? Well, the right-wing, American-admiring Sarkozy will abolish the ridiculous web of thickly layered social contracts that stifle employment and act as a disincentive for companies to grow. Then, he’ll attack the spending ministries, and get France’s budget down to something less than suicidal levels. After that he’ll rebuild France’s relations with the USA, and break the backs of the unions. And on Friday, he’ll leave early and relax with a glass of wine. He’s still French, after all.
France today looks a lot like Britain in 1979, with somewhat better food. Assuming Cameron can wing it through the next two horrible years of Gordon Brown, there’s space for an incredible France-UK partnership between Sarkozy and Cameron. The next ten years are going to be interesting…
Posted on May 7, 2007
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