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France Crushes Socialist Welfare Dream, Admits "Living Beyond Its Means" For 40 Years
Facing up to the pressures of responsibility as a member of the European Union - having been told their treaty-busting budget plan was unacceptable - it seems France is resorting to the worst case scenario - cut spending! As Bloomberg reports, the glory days of France’s welfare model may be behind it, as France, which hasn't had a balanced budget since 1974, admits "for 40 years we have lived beyond our means," but French PM Valls is "convinced [France] can make up for lost time." His plan - streamlining unemployment benefits, cutting bonuses for newborns, and pegging family allowances to household income (all of which amount to a de facto re-writing of France’s welfare rules), are being spun positively: "It's not the end of a generous system,” government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said yesterday. "It's the end of spending that wasn't useful - and that's in order to preserve a system that is a costly one."
France’s generous welfare system has come at a price - a budget that hasn’t been balanced since 1974 - and as we noted previously, the European taxpayers (read Germans) are not willing to accept it any longer. So, as Bloomberg reports...
The country’s Socialist government led by Prime Minister Manuel Valls is chipping away at a system that dispenses 52 billion euros ($66 billion) annually just in family benefits, and is among the most generous in the world. A hemorrhaging public deficit and debt on track to reach about 100 percent of gross domestic product within two years have left the government with little choice but to attack what in France has been a way of life for almost a century.
...
“For 40 years we have lived beyond our means,” Valls said this week. “I am convinced we can make up for lost time.”
The government sought to defend the move, saying it’s not dismantling the French model, but rather making it more efficient and less wasteful.
“It’s not the end of a generous system,” government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said yesterday. “It’s the end of spending that wasn’t useful -- and that’s in order to preserve a system that is a costly one.”
Valls has mapped out his plans: streamlining unemployment benefits, cutting bonuses for newborns and pegging family allowances to household income -- all of which amount to a de facto re-writing of France’s welfare rules.
...
Several pillars of the French welfare model will be pulled down by the changes.
...
Valls, 52, is not coy about his political ambition and sees the welfare-system reforms as part of his platform.
“Like you all, I am preparing for the future,” he said yesterday.
* * *
We wonder how much those 'slightly used' guillotines are going for on eBay now?
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Poor France.
:(
The party's over and the hangovers begin.
Hangovers? What about the hangings?
Foragers can't forage when the berry bush is dead.
Sad Krugman is very sad at this admission.
I can see him in my minds eye feverishly working on his next currency killing column right now.
Krugman faps harder with each pip of debasement.
Surprised I am, never to have seen this clip from "the Magic Christian" linked on this site.
Let us fix that - full movie is on the yt as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQxL0O1lYvg
FREE MONEY
Signing bonus for babies.....that's silly
France defeat to a "young" Prussian army sparked a strategic aim to surpass Prussia (later Germany) with a higher birthrate
The french press are jubelant at every message that reflects a higher birthrate, and Valls said "we will pass Germany in 10 years time", not mentioning that they are loosing manufacturing capability in staggering proportions and the current youth is subsidised through government non-jobs
France realising that they will have even more young mouths to feed want Germany to contribute to a European (which is french speak for France) solution and a European Youth employment initiative as well as a European unemployment benefit. Germany pays and France plays
Everyone's a gleaner now !!!
France's debt-to-GDP ratio is lower than America's. The hangover for the US when reserve currency status is lost is going to be bad.
I'll leave the debt to GDP ratio alone because GDP as a measure of prosperity and happiness is a bullshit metric and Kuznets said as much but do you know why a nation is said to have THE reserve currency?
Its because they have the ability and the resolve to back it up with force, so you may very well get your wish ;-)
We have wars to pay for. They surrender before the war starts. Keeps the costs down.
Their ratio of a north Africans to westerners is astronomically worse.
Yeah, and it's hard to do the mental 180; and say, WTF ? why are we supposed to be supporting these jack offs ? Rouind em up and ship em back. But it takes actual political will. It's them or you. just like war.
Hangover when we lose RCS? I think you mean DTs without medical treatment.
Zaphod gets right to an important observation. But Americans will avoid seeing it. They will instead claim it is because they believe France is socialist and demonize all concepts of socialism, or demean France because they did not spend more on war, claim the criteria use to make a comparison not longer apply to the US, or find other ways to throw mud on France while projecting an impression that the US is some shining example.
Looking at the US from the international viewpoint, instead of just an internal perspective, the US is the most socialistic country in the world using the criteria of these commentors. The US has long lived way beyond it's means, has printed massive amounts of fiat paper (and continues to do so) but passes the cost and burden of it's irresponsibility on to the rest of the world by being the reserve currency.
You have to wonder if there will be a sudden breaking point when a few countries openly start dumping all their dollar based bonds, treasuries and currency in doing so spark a snow rolling of other countries trying to get out to avoid being stuck holding greatly devalued paper and broken promises.
I view all countries who have continued to get further into debt even during the boom cycle as irresponsible and that bankers influenced the politicians to do so.
GDP is all lies and fraud.
Madame La Guillotine
Just cut off bennies for all non-citizens. Of course that might upset all the jihadi wannabe's a bit but it'll give the foreign legion a chance for live fire exercises.
Poor France=Poor Europe=Poor Euro=better luck next time.
socialist cheese eating surrender monkeys, freedom fries, blah blah blah.
the truth is that France is paradise compared to the USA--in every way.
The USA couldn't carry France's beret or its baguettes. Period.
The USA can only DREAM of ever being half the nation France is.
Over time, countries are just about equally crappy.
But they are crappy in so many different ways! You pick your poison.
Shouldn't confuse countries, or nations, with governments.
With her recent aerial bombing campaigns in Africa and the Middle East it looks like France is dreaming of becoming more like the USA.
if the banking mafia can no longer sell welfare borrowing as a political option then they have to sell warfare borrowing instead
Maybe there is really is such a thing as Karma? Wouldn't that be a bitch ?
France's problems began about the same time the Muslims started pouring in 50 years ago.
mass immigration is deflationary due to it's effect on disposable income and thus demand - this was disguiosed for a long time by cheap credit and innovation (computers). unfortunately mass immigration kills innovation - as it kills the need to innovate to reduce labor costs - and cheap credit kills itself over time.
so here we all are sitting on the edge of a cliff thanks to 50 years of banking mafia lies.
Your racist ideas are so off the mark.
Islam isn't a race you fucking retard.
Nice language; its unfortunate you cannot express yourself in civil language; but it is not probably your fault, you were, most likely not given a proper education.
Discrimination whether religious or by race amounts to the same thing; ignorance.
Discrimination is about discerning the differences between competing objects or options according to some criteria designed to permit ranking them, and for a PURPOSE. Islam is objectively a totalitarian system, not just a spiritual system limited to the private sphere. Christianity is much better, as it offers freedom for individual and human freedom and does not imply Christian government. Au contraire, mon con. Wow I just practiced my freedom of speech. Not something Islamic regimes tolerate.
You know nothing about Islam or the history of it; you make broad strokes where, in reality, Islam is praticed differently all over the world which makes your weak, uneducated argument essentially useless.
.
I wish we didn't have to know about the history and practice of Islam and other psychotic cults, but we do, because they intend us harm.
.
I love it when the mad left start to proclaim their prejudices as though they were some kind of fact.
Won't wash. that dog won't hunt. cart before t he horse. t he Socialists opened the borders; the Immigrants didn't invent Socialism; or much of anything else, for that matter.
A couple years ago I worked with someone that traveled to France and hooked up with a local. She was able to get a free university education in horticullture but was unable to find work due to her brittle bone condition. It appeared she was unable to lift anything more than five pounds. She and her husband are now here. Useless piece of shit. Hideously ugly too.
She is but a mirror to your mind .
She looks like Janet Yellen?
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/top-20-ugliest-animals-time-galler...
I'd say early on the US was an improvement on the various Euro countries but it faded over the last century or so - the creation of the central bank being as good a marker of the tipping point as any.
How come you're not moving to France? And what about all the Mexicans? Why aren't they moving to France? Europe could use more people from different racial groups. Especially ones that lack the gene to metabolise alcohol. If you're wondering about that one, look up the curious case of Mathew Denice of Medford, Ma.
I'd rather have the Ferguson riots over what happens in French cities when their minorities go off.
And you have no idea what you're talking about.
Let me get this straight for you : the first thing a smart french does is to leave his country . I did , many of my friends did.
I'm talking about modest entrepreneurs ,hardworking people with ideas wanting to succeed in their field.
Envy , my friend. envy , is a very strong french feat. Infinite red tape , highest taxes in the world .. ''dirigisme' , corporatism ...
the only upside is that i can hardly get worse , so everywhere else seems like a fairly good deal.
'
Agreed; but what does that imply for the EU and the Euro? Failure; t hat's what.
Ever been to one of the french banlieus arround Paris? Ever seen a man drop his zipper and piss in a bush infront of a hundred people in the middle of tge day at the gardens outside the Louve? I have and much mire. I think might be a bit blind to all that France is. Its it a country with lots of goid things, but also bad things, sort of like the US.
Reality is not infinitely negotiable. Good on France, may we learn some restraint and stewardship here
So glad US has not lived beyond it's means, and that we don't use that Fiat money too!
Listen.
"CUT" spending? Are you sure about this? Cut spending?! This is crazy. Those French troops just bombed ISIL shipping containers.
Vive la France......not !
Don't be smug - when will our country learn?
(Euro)Disney's Dream Debased
LOL. It was easy to be condescending while Uncle Sugar was paying to secure their defense, and there were piles of money to spend on social programs.
Uncle Sugar is BROKE. It will be entertaining to see more of these socialists' 'come to Jesus' moments.
France left NATO in the 1960s. So actually they have furnished their own defense for almost a half century.
France left NATO in 1966 under de Gaulle and rejoined in 2009 under Sarkozy.
That's very simple of you. You can't actually believe that?!
France could leave NATO because they knew that the US was there to counter the USSR. I feel embarrassed even having to say that to you.
The Wolfowitz doctrine applied to Europe -> disarmament and de-industrialization.
European disarmament was Washington (aka banking mafia) policy. The French bucked it for a while but then gave in when the banking mafia got one of their stooges into power (Sarkozy).
The banking mafia only need one leg-breaker nation and it is more effective as a leg-breaker if no-one else can stand up for themselves. A free world requires that everyone can stand up for themselves at least a little bit.
France is a nuclear power. Maybe they suck in conventional conflict from a strategic standpoint, but they could still participate in MAD.
We specialize in exceptionally simple people; stick around, you haven't seen anything yet.
France did not leave NATO, they just refused to actively participate. When the USSR fell apart they decided to be an active member again since they wouldn't have to get their hands dirty.
Though France showed solidarity with the rest of NATO during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, de Gaulle continued his pursuit of an independent defence by removing France's Atlantic and Channel fleets from NATO command.[32] In 1966, all French armed forces were removed from NATO's integrated military command, and all non-French NATO troops were asked to leave France. U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk was later quoted as asking de Gaulle whether his order included "the bodies of American soldiers in France's cemeteries?"[33] This withdrawal forced the relocation of SHAPE from Rocquencourt, near Paris, to Casteau, north of Mons, Belgium, by 16 October 1967.[34] France remained a member of the alliance, and committed to the defence of Europe from possible Warsaw Pact attack with its own forces stationed in the Federal Republic of Germany throughout the Cold War. A series of secret accords between US and French officials, the Lemnitzer-Ailleret Agreements, detailed how French forces would dovetail back into NATO's command structure should East-West hostilities break out
I don't view de Gaulle as a great man, nor do I view him as a fuckup. He was an intelligent man, however. You know where Germany got the idea for Blitzkreig? At least in part from a book that de Gaulle wrote. And on the whole calling in the gold from the US, yeah, that sucked for us, but if you were in France's shoes, what would you have done?
"these socialists"
The people who benefit most from govts. borrowing vast amounts of imaginary money from the banking mafia are the banking mafia.
Just follow the money. It explains all.
And the Socialist Welfare American Dream is next !
Would love to see that happen, but I have yet to hear a single voice from Team Red saying that....
They are in deed one in the same, red and blue.
Both agree on gay marriage, some form of Amnesty (only varying in degree), bombing the brown man, and both are afraid of governmental unions. There truly is NO difference.
And Gerard Depardieu smiles wryly and says "Where do I go to get my reputation back? ;-)
You'd think he'd rather get Carole Bouquet back than his reputation :)
I could see a lot if guys foresaking their reputation for those...eyes ;-)
I just loved it when he left France
There's always one or two who take a stand at some point.
The trick is to have a million do it at the same time ;-)
Yep I wish! But he made a big splash and impact. He became a hero to what remians of the free-thinking French.
They're thinking they like free stuff, free time, free services. That kind of free thinking.
They give in too easily .
They can afford to give everyone at least one standard deviation of income for free if they unshackle the engines of creation .
Like
http://andreswhy.blogspot.com/2014/10/prodigies-update-ii.html
But they want to tell the wealth creators what to do , and how dispense their largesse .
That does not work .
The Singularity is upon them , and they do not even have the excuse of a Delilah .
"Drowning in wealth they are , but unwilling to learn to swim"
And you can quote me on that .
"It's the end of spending that wasn't useful - and that's in order to preserve a system that is a costly one."
Yeah? Well talk is cheap. Pardon me if I wait for the legislation to actually cut spending passes.
"It is lonely in the saddle when the horse is dead ."
John Wayne .
"Liberte , Egalite , Fraternite"
Do not jeer at the death of a magnificent dream .
It is not dead , just sleeping .
Get the French dream ready for Le dirt nap!
By liberty, the French today mean freedom from work, from risk, from civic responsibility and responsibility to family. The other two mean, basically, the state and what it does.
Wonder how the immigrant Africans & Arabs are going to react to all this.
Probably like our Africans in Ferguson.
NYPoke
No real reform until you send the deadwood back to ME and Africa. That goes for the rest of Europe. Refreshing to see a party in Denmark actually putting forth that proposal.
badly would be my guess
"Last stand of Fort Zinderneuf on the Seine Left Bank .
Maginot returns to his grave .
De Gaulle turns in his grave .
Napoleon returns ."
Scribbles of Nostradamus .
Take your pick which article poses which point of view by the alleged same official:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/08/business/rift-opens-among-eurozone-lea...
"Prime Minister Manuel Valls of France has intensified a showdown with Germany and Brussels in recent days, unveiling a “no-austerity budget” designed to cut the deficit more slowly than austerity advocates would like. During a trip to London on Monday to visit with Prime Minister David Cameron, Mr. Valls reiterated France’s defiance, saying the government would mend its finances “at our speed while not losing sight of our priorities.”
Who writes this crap? Since when is 40 years "almost a century"?
So, if I'm 40 yrs old, I'm almost a century old? Come-on!
French years are like dog years
They're practically Le Neanderthals!
LOL! Maybe that's why the girls don't shave!
They shave like porn stars do, the last couple of decades.
Maybe be so, but they don't bathe.
Ever heard the term "French Bath"?
For those not familiar with the term, french women don't bathe regularily instead dousing themselves in perfumes to cover their body odour.
RACIST JOKES
Have you ever been to France ? There are more hairy and smelly women in the US than in France … and more obese ones ;-)
This means the end of the EU .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com/2014/05/belarus-and-european-instability.h...
WW 2.5 within 3 years .
WW3 already started - we're in the "Spanish Civil War / Ethiopia / Manchuria" phase. If there are survivors and the banking mafia win then it will come to be called "The Great Liberation War" or some such BS. If there are survivors and the good guys win it will come to be called "The Dollar War".
World Wars always start after the banking mafia screw up the economy because all the small, local conflicts that exist everywhere under the surface all come to the surface at once due to the sudden (relative) scarcity.
Is the Foreign Legion still hiring, or laying off?
The beginning of the European Resurgence .
See
http://andreswhy.blogspot.com/2014/08/cowabunga-origin.html
See
http://andreswhy.blogspot.com/2007/02/napoleon-emperor-of.html
If you peruse Eurostat information, it's every bit as easy to establish not only no deficit reductions, but huge debt to GDP ratio growths there as in the US and Japan. Of course most ZH'ers already are aware of this fraudulent Krugman claim of austerity.
You can't have mass immigration of low-skilled people and austerity at the same time because mass immigration of low-skilled people pushes up govt. spending.
Plus so many of the middle class there and here now feel entitled to their niche socialist programs.
Except in the latter case you have a fixed cost and an argument over cutting it leading to an actual reducation of spending if the argument is won.
In the former case even if you win the argument over reducing the existing cost of middle-class entitlements that is continuously being out weighed by the increasing costs from mass low-skilled immigration.
It's like the difference between a boat with a lot of water in it and a boat with a lot of water in it and a leak.
I guess President Nixon (I think it was him) was accurate when he once stated 'we're all Socialists now,' or was that Keynesians? Big diff.
if the political elite in France weren't owned by the banking mafia they'd default on their debt
Paris will burn
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-10-09/france-crushes-socialist-welfare-dream-admits-living-beyond-its-means-40-years#comment-5311974
The end of the EU . Europe wide war WW 2.5 within three years. The death of a dream . Like the fall of Rome . Some will live to regret this . AndreEurope wide war ? You mean Germany t akes over Paris again in 6 weeks ? So what.
@SAT 800
Yes, the Germans gave the French a terrible beating. But it took the combined strength of the United States, Great Britain, Soviet Russia, Canada, etc., to beat the Germans.
In 1939 and 1940 France was let alone (apart from only 8 British divisions, which succeeded to quickly re-embark at Dunkirk thanks to the sacrifice of the soldiers of the 1st French Army of the North ).
France was let alone facing a nazi-fanaticized country with a population of 80 million (vs. 40 million in France), a particularly well prepared war-industry, and an air superiority of 5 vs 1.
It’s asking rather a great deal of France to match such strength against hers – with an air inferiority of 1 vs 5.
The US never faced more than 15% of the Wehrmacht – 80% were in the East - when France had to face alone 100% of Hitler's war machine in 1940 – plus 22 Italian divisions in the south.
In fact, the Germans would have walked straight over the British or American armies if any of these places would have been directly adjacent to France.
"French Socialist" is redundant
coming soon to a (former) Superpower near you.
Once again .
It is the death of a dream .
You will all live to regret this .
When your life is nasty , brutish and short
Remember that some tried for better
and you cheered their demise .
Do you deserve any consideration ?
Because you have no power .
And you reject commiseration .
This is an AI query .
I wonder what impact this will have on the central banks global circle jerk/daisy chain. Looks like the IMF may soon be forced to take a more active role in the ponzi.
I think there's no problems. The top dogs have surely been furiously constructing bulwarks to seal themselves off from the implosion of the ponzi. You and I will suffer, but we don't matter.
warfare borrowing to replace welfare borrowing
They are socialist. They will never cut spending.
moar assignats!!!
It is extremely simple.
Germany and China are no longer providing
It is absolutely that simple. Those policies are forced, not chosen
Funny how they had NO problems before joining the EU and starting to use the Euro. What a coincidence they have to do this now, after a decade of using the Euro.
Yet no cuts to real estate bubble price support (ca. 45billion euros/year)...
I farted today.
Isn't the US already past 100% debt to GDP? Maybe France should change the numbers so it looks better.
The unemployment rate among immigrants living the "banlieues" (government housing projects in the suburbs) is around 50%. They don't have Mexicans but the only thing keeping France from being inundated with North African Muslims (and South African whatevers) is the Mediterranian Sea.
Round 'em up and ship 'em back. It's rude ? well, it's t hem or you. in War t hat means it's okay to kill somebody. In t his case some of them will survive in whatever catbox they came from.
If France had not bailed out the ECB and lower states, they would have the money for their welfare state just as the USA would have money for its programs if it had not wasted trillions on QEternity.
Making France the WHO and UN poster child for North African unfettered immigration, much as England is for Central and Eastern Europe, cost them trillions as well.
But that is in the past tense - the money has been spent, the immigrants are here, and now you must cut programs. In the USA this has resulted in a lowered standard of living, in Canada everyone is obsessed with money management as the USA was 25 years ago.
The movies Red, White, and Blue are really good.
[quote]
A hemorrhaging public deficit and debt on track to reach about 100 percent of gross domestic product within two years have left the government with little choice but to attack what in France has been a way of life for almost a century.
[/quote]Hmm, so the French Govt is like "Typhoid Mary," only with Ebola! Throw doze guyz into an isolation unit!
In France few things are saved, Carla Bruni is one of the few:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kwt6DaOuXc
A boring people stuck intellectual talking hours and hours repeating the same subject without objectivity.
If you interrupt the speech of a French you is thick, is not intellectualized like them.
Perhaps remnant of Napoleon, who knows ...
Englishmen are not far behind.
In Portugal and Spain when speaking from beyond sea, they imagine that they own everything because the Pope divided the globe between them through the Treaty of Tordesillas!
Moronic people who stopped in time.
Do not do herd tourism.
I like to walk where most will not, and for me, Europe is pure garbage, other immigrants.
America is not far from it, can believe.
Rampant youth unemployment, the Northern Hemisphere NEED a War.
Otherwise, are fucked.
hehe.
Imagine what their budget would look like if their military wasn't subsidized by 'merica. Same goes for the rest of Europe.
Remindes me of USA.
France outed on Friday, USA outs itself on Monday.
The lone voice of reason over the Iraq war though...don't look so fucking stupid now do they, remember all that freedom Fries shit your Govt fed you
AS G.W.Bush famously said "We need to destroy Socialism to save Socialism .." - or something along those lines
Living beyond your means is no problem, if I read Mr Krugman right. A government can always print out themselves from this misery ( unless people arise ).
So they are cutting the socialist welfare benefits to the well off and preserving those for the poor? That's just means testing the welfare! Sounds like they are just tilting MORE socialist to me.
the problem with socialism is that every new generation of idiots think *they* can "do it right"
They desperately need these cutbacks to build cultural centers in every little village. They have at least a thousand cultural centers already, but if the politicians oppose them, welll, you know.
Ah France, land of happy vacation memories...where hubby and I were taken on a "Manhattan sleigh ride" by a Moroccan cabdriver, spoken rudely to by snooty waiters in restaurants that couldn't make a decent Bernaise sauce at gunpoint, and given the once-over by a tight-lipped attendant at Notre Dame who wasn't sure whether my short sleeves violated the "no bare shoulders" rule...(Apparently it would be less offensive to walk into the church carrying an open box of dildos than it would be to walk in with shoulder skin showing...)
Well, at least the cabbie put on a good show...pulling out the maps to search for the best route to take us the 150 feet from the train station to our hotel, which apparently required us to encircle the entire city first...We were so happy to finally get to the hotel, but nearly died laughing when we looked out our window and saw the damned train station right fucking THERE! We could have WALKED!
Oh 'Mahmoud', or whatever the hell your name is...we don't hold it against you. Your rate was actually pretty reasonable, considering the tour we got. (And I loved the 'map' thing...a good touch..)