One would think: i) French + ii) economist + iii) Nobel prize winner = the French version of Paul Krugman, which immediately means someone who exists in a permament state of eternal hubris and confused shock at the endless stupidity of all those others who (have a functioning frontal cortex and thus) fail to recognize his brilliance (hence, are capable of rational thought), whose only explanation for the failure of all his promoted policies is that not enough, never enough of them was attempted, and that, like a good socialist, the only thing better than a massive government apparatus is an infinite government apparatus, coupled with 10 Princeton economists sitting in a circle, chanting and micromanaging the world, the economy and the capital markets.
One would be wrong. Because hours after winning the economics Nobel Prize, speaking on France 24, French economist Jean Tirole advocated Scandinavian-style labour market policies and government reform as a way of preserving France’s social model. Wait, he said he believes in... less government? Sacre bleu, A French economist advocating less socialism? Was that Krugman's head just exploding?
From France 24 [10]:
“We haven’t succeeded in France to undertake the labour market reforms that are similar to those in Germany, Scandinavia and so on,” he said in telephone interview from the French city of Toulouse, where he teaches.
France is plagued by record unemployment and Tirole described the French job market as “catastrophic” earlier on Monday, arguing that the excessive protection for employees had frozen the country’s job market.
“We haven’t succeeded also in downsizing the state, which is an issue because we have a social model that I approve of – I’m very much in favour of this social model – but it won’t be sustainable if the state is too big,” he added.
If Krugman had a second head, this is where it, too, would explode. And while Krugman is stuck with his usual rhetorical [11], unreadable, intellectual masturbation, the Frenchman unleashes even more shocking common sense:
Tirole remarked that northern European countries, as well as Canada and Australia, had proven you could keep a welfare social model with smaller government. In contrast, he said France’s “big state” threatened its social policies because there will not be “enough money to pay for it in the long run”.
Now if only US socialists would learn from their French peers, then this truly would be a memorable week.
