French work hours push up baguette price

Reuters ^ | 11/14/2006 | Reuters

[oblomov]

PARIS (Reuters) - Why have French baguettes become more expensive? Because of France's shorter work week, French Finance Minister Thierry Breton said on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT

Breton, who has been a vocal critic of France's 35-hour work week, said the price of a baguette had risen by 23 percent over the past five years, while the price of German bread had fallen by 3 percent over the same period.

"The cost of the 35-hour week is included in the rise of the price of a baguette since 2001, and this has been hidden too much from the French," Breton told L'Express magazine in an interview published on Tuesday.

Breton said French bakers were forced to charge their clients higher prices because they had to make up for higher costs linked to the shorter working week, introduced under a previous Socialist government.

[oblomov]

This is the economic equivalent of mandating a higher minimum wage. More pay and no change in output equals inflation.

[concerned about politics]

Oh no! Not the baguettes! (Let them eat cheeeeeese)

[Finger Monkey]

let them eat cake

[Larry Lucido]

This will raise movie ticket prices. Every hollywood movie where someone is carrying groceries, there is a loaf of french bread sticking out of one of the bags.

[mozarky2]

A friend went to Europe a few years ago-he told me those baguettes were hard as a rock. He said he saw one Frenchman riding a bicycle carrying one stuffed into his shirt-the guy had it in his armpit! As Rachael Ray would say, "YUM-O!"

[Spktyr]

A baguette is cheaper in the US or Britain than in France.
Tastes better, too.

[kinoxi]

Trade unions and opposition Socialists say the shorter work week has helped to create jobs.

The last sentence of the article.

[the anti-liberal]

"Trade unions and opposition Socialists say the shorter work week has helped to create jobs."

Does anyone happen to know how this conclusion is reached?

[RushCrush]

lololololololololololol!!!!!!!! WHAT A BUNCH OF LAZYAZZES!

[elpinta]

"Productivity" cannot be accurately translated into French.
I was there, I know.

They are good at many things, we know, but a productive life style 'a-la western world' is not one of them.

While they excel at allowing 'yuts' to burn cars as a pass-time, and also exporting white flags, I will only focus on some of their culinary specialties, period.

Even their wine is lame... but most of their breads are very good!

Hey, is the latin in them, we like siestas, and in some countries they can get away with more than their share!

That is the only country I ever visited where I found a police station with a 'closed' sign on it... for lunch...

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

A friend went to Europe a few years ago-he told me those baguettes were hard as a rock.

If you don't eat them within 30 minutes of being baked, you might as well eat a hard cover book. They put something in them so they solidify real fast. Maybe that's where their spinal matter went.

[kinoxi]

Less hours = more hours for more employees. For every seven 40 hour a week workers cut to 35, there is one more job available. Make everybody poor is the logic. It is absolutely sick.

[elpinta]

"It is absolutely sick."
It is also the socialist way: spread the misery.
Hope we don't see that here, but the mind-set is available now.

[Larry Lucido]

When I visited relatives in Italy, breakfast was always a shot of espresso in a bowl-sized cup of hot milk (cafe-latte, of course) in which you dunked this crusty bread that was hard as a rock. Thing is, when you dunked it, it was actually pretty good.

[the anti-liberal]

That makes sense, I was under the impression that business hours themselves had been decreased to match the fewer work hours.

I imagine that creates needless paperwork headaches for 'employers' though, having more 'employees', some with 5-hour weeks - that they can't get fired from.

[DemforBush]

Yep, exactly. Only in France would an inefficient business structure be viewed as an economic success.

Well, France and the bulk of the Democratic Party...

[steveyp]

Of course it tastes better. You're not eating it in France!

[Mike Darancette]

Never eat the middle of the loaf.

[FreedomNeocon]

I hate the fwench and all they stand for.... that said I was in Fwance on a "senior" trip when I was in high school back in 1997, and the breads at the bakery were AWESOME, and this news infuriates me.

I think I'll go firebomb a bus....

[Tamar1973]

Let them eat overpriced bread!!!