08/12/2004 8:46:04 am
De-regulations in France Would Create Millions of Jobs. Nicolas Sarkozy, the most popular politician in France and the finance minister that just resigned to become party leader of the UMP, appointed a committee that would make proposals for increased growth in France. This week, their report was presented to the French government. One point they make, according to the FT, is that de-regulating the service sector would create millions of new jobs in France. If the French service sector would employ the same proportion of workers as in Germany, that would be an increase by 1,2 million jobs. If it reached American levels, the increase would be 3,4 million. One can dicuss the figures, but the point is important: French unemployment is not due to free trade and outsourcing of jobs. It is due to one aspect of the European Social Model; heavy regulations that restrict free enterprise. Thus, measures to create more jobs and increased growth should focus on liberating the productive forces. Not the harmful traditional French tendency towards protectionism and statism.