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.

[July 4th]

That's the problem with a fresh baguette with no preservatives or sugar. It's as hard as a rock the next morning, barely usable for toast.

[July 4th]

We're not talking big money here. Unless you buy a baguette every day. In Paris last fall, baguettes were 80 cents at the local boulangerie.

[xc1427]

As we know, socialism is defined as the result of making everyone equally miserable.

[yankeedame]

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.

Yeah, sick...and crazy like a fox. Socialism can not thrive except where there is misery, disappointment, and broken dreams. Notice I didn't say "poverty". Socialism has never sprung from the poor. Never. It is a disease of the guilty and the bored well-to-do.

[xc1427]

...give me fresh baguettes or give me death!

[gilor]

I have trouble imagining a 40 hour work week, let alone a 35. But then again I'm not a lazy frog.

[GSlob]

Well, maybe some FReepers with the local knowledge could provide the background info - what was the price of those baguettes per weight unit before, and what it is now, in relation with, say, the average income there? For if [for the sake of discussion] these baguettes were a penny a pound, and now tripled, then they would still be dirt cheap.

[Blue Jays]

Hi Larry-

Your breakfast experiences overseas are very similar to mine. In Germany, Austria, and France we would enjoy chewy and delicious bread coupled with soft cheese and fantastic cafe latte for breakfast. Even though the drink was quite strong, it had a very pleasant "creaminess" about it...even if consumed without milk or sugar. Breakfast has always been my favorite meal and I really grew to enjoy it overseas.

With the exception of the bread, the Europeans don't really go for carbohydrates. It results in an Atkins-like Diet whether desired or not. I'm fairly fit and still lost ten pounds while traveling for three weeks, which was pretty sweet! Lunch and dinner also had plenty of meat and cheese served with a simple salad.

~ Blue Jays ~

[Screamname]

Like I said many times, the illegal problem could be solved by Mexico and France doing a trade off. Mexicans want to work and the French don`t, so send the Mexicans to France and the French to Mexico. The economy of France will improve and illegal immigration into the US will absolutely cease to exist as not a Frenchman alive would walk even 2 centimeters to work never mind cross a border.

[Ignatz]

Rachael Ray would say, "YUM-O!"

That's funny...that's what I say about Rachel Ray!

[Myrddin]

I have trouble imagining a 40 hour work week, let alone a 35. But then again I'm not a lazy frog.

60+ has been the norm for me for most of the last 25 years. It's the reason why I was able to pay off my home mortgage at age 46. Life is better when you are busy doing things you like and getting paid for it.

[Skibane]

On a more positive note, the lack of affordable bread has produced a dramatic reduction in underarm hair...

[jcs1744]

"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."

Why did the French plant trees along the Champs Elysees? So the German baguettes could walk in the shade. :-)

Lame, yes. But I truly couldn't resist.

[dakine]

35-hour work week? I could never work that many...
15-20 hours a week would be the most I could handle....

[Caipirabob]

Let them eat overpriced bread!!!

She can't be French. Her arm pits are shaven. Cute in any country, though. : )

[teenyelliott]

said the price of a baguette had risen by 23 percent over the past five years

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why oh why did you ping me to this???!!! cry cry

[Rb ver. 2.0]

"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."

Well, there's always a marble rye:

[dforest]

I remember a reporter doing a piece after the end of the Soviets with a couple that ran a restaurant somewhere in the old Soviet Union. The reporter mentioned to them that the locals said the service was awful and the food was bad. Their answer was that there was no reason to worry about either food or service because there was no competition and no incentive to worry about doing anything better.

[DungeonMaster]

If 35 hrs is so bad that 50 must be excellent.

[LadyNavyVet]

I like to heat French bread so the butter melts. In France, it's cold and hard. The taste was okay, but I got really tired of the cold, hard bread every day. The unsalted butter was good, though.