Posted on 07/07/2009 1:44:43 PM PDT by Lorianne
FONTAINEBLEAU, France — French workers normally take off much of the summer, but this month, there is something of a revolution going on here at this former royal chateau roughly 30 miles southeast of Paris. The throngs of tourists will be jostling alongside stonemasons, restoration experts and other artisans paid by the French government’s $37 billion economic stimulus program.
Their job? Maintain in pristine condition the 800-year-old palace of more than 1,500 rooms where Napoleon bid adieu before being exiled to Elba and where Marie Antoinette enjoyed a gilded boudoir.
Besides Fontainebleau, about 50 French chateaus are to receive a facelift, including the palace of Versailles. Also receiving funds are some 75 cathedrals like Notre Dame in Paris. A museum devoted to Lalique glass is being created in Strasbourg, while Marseilles is to be the home of a new 10 million euro center for Mediterranean culture.
All told, Paris has set aside 100 million euros in stimulus funds earmarked for what the French like to call their cultural patrimony. It is a French twist on how to overcome the global downturn, spending borrowed money avidly to beautify the nation even as it also races ahead of the United States in more classic Keynesian ways: fixing potholes, upgrading railroads and pursuing other “shovel ready” projects.
As it turns out, France’s more centralized, state-directed economy — so often criticized in good times for smothering entrepreneurship and holding back growth — is proving remarkably effective at deploying funds quickly and efficiently in bad times.
Paying for all those jobless French will not be cheap. Under French job regulations, unemployed workers are guaranteed up to 67 percent of their former salary and can collect as much as 70,000 euros ($98,000) annually in benefits for two years.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
“As it turns out, France’s more centralized, state-directed economy — so often criticized in good times for smothering entrepreneurship and holding back growth — is proving remarkably effective at deploying funds quickly and efficiently in bad times.”
“Under French job regulations, unemployed workers are guaranteed up to 67 percent of their former salary and can collect as much as 70,000 euros ($98,000) annually in benefits for two years.”
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What a paradise on Earth.
Gee, I guess Socialism works after all....
All this means is that France, long a socialist MECCA, has huge, well-lubed channels for redisributing wealth. This is a good thing?
I’ve heard that the French never stop stimulating themselves...
Steve Martin
Their money -- a mere 37 billion -- is putting their people to work.
BRILLIANCE on our part.
The author of the article seems to think so ... though he (weakly) admits that the piper won’t be paid until future generations.
Hey, why worry? Life is good, drink wine ... let the ‘future generations’ worry about all the debt. In that I think the USA and France are alike.
The WSJ a few days ago had a news item on the states contemplating the closing of rest areas on interstates because of lack of funds (as if there weren’t enough of these closed already because of maintenance...).
This really staggers the mind: billions in Stimulus (slush) funds going out to all kinds of entities and projects and not enough public funds available to pay workers to keep interstate rest areas open????
Stunning—and absolute madness.
One of the major flaws of socialism is that it kills innovation and motivation.
Now think hard: what has France innovated since WWII? When has France exhibited motivation?
While you think, here are some examples of American innovation/motivation since WWII:
- built a network of highways
- went to the moon
- brought computers into the home
- communication revolution
- numerous medical advances
- nuclear power
- agricultural advances
- defense
- transportation advances
Ok, done thinking? I came up with:
- The Concorde (a concept that was ignorant of economics)
- Airbus? Not the best track record
- if you consider naughty shopping bags and high fashion to be an innovation, then this site shows 52 French innovations: http://www.trendhunter.com/photo-gallery-long/31997
Socialism cannot be sustained without capitalism.
“France, Unlike U.S., Is Deep Into Stimulus Projects”
They started those revolutionary projects in 1789.
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