Saturday, April 22, 2006
Vive la France!
Where has Polistra been lately? France .... at least in spirit.
Our opinion leaders are deriding France for its latest 'surrender', as seen in this story.
Hold on a minute. It's true that France has surrendered to Germany once, but these recent developments are the opposite of surrender. Getting rid of bad laws is not surrender in my book. Getting rid of bad laws is common sense.
No American politician has the guts to veto a smoking ban.
No American politician has the guts to veto a Superfund law, even though we've seen how it givesthieves lawyers total power to steal anything they want.
No American politician dares to give young workers a sense of security, though some claim they would like to. [Granted, it's hard to compare with American circumstances in this case, mainly because French youth acquire something called an 'education' before starting in the workforce, unlike American youth who need to spend the first few years at work learning to read and write. So French youngsters are more likely to pick the right career area, if not necessarily the right job at the start.]
Finally, Chirac has flung down the gauntlet at Allah decisively: Any attack or planned attack will be met with all possible force, including nuclear.
Our opinion leaders also like to deride France's policy of short work weeks. Nonsense. If the 35-hour week was bad for business, France would be dismally failing and we would be triumphantly succeeding. It's the other way around, dammit.
France has about 1/6 of our population, yet it has three major NON-BANKRUPT auto companies (Renault, Citroen, Peugeot) and several smaller specialty firms. France has Airbus, which competes on the same level as Boeing. France runs a large trade surplus with us directly, and France's overall trade balance has been strongly positive for many years. It turned negative for the first time in 2004, at roughly $800 per person. America's global trade balance has been strongly negative for many years, getting worse fast; in 2004 it was $2800 per person.
Yes, I know economists tell us that trade deficits mean nothing. Sorry, I don't buy that line any more. Our specific trade deficit means that China owns us.
What do we have to show for our 70-hour weeks and two-earner families? Oversized and refinanced houses that nobody has time to enjoy.
Casinos and mortgages. That's where the American economy is going: Bets and debts. ¶ 9:11 AM
Where has Polistra been lately? France .... at least in spirit.
Our opinion leaders are deriding France for its latest 'surrender', as seen in this story.
Hold on a minute. It's true that France has surrendered to Germany once, but these recent developments are the opposite of surrender. Getting rid of bad laws is not surrender in my book. Getting rid of bad laws is common sense.
No American politician has the guts to veto a smoking ban.
No American politician has the guts to veto a Superfund law, even though we've seen how it gives
No American politician dares to give young workers a sense of security, though some claim they would like to. [Granted, it's hard to compare with American circumstances in this case, mainly because French youth acquire something called an 'education' before starting in the workforce, unlike American youth who need to spend the first few years at work learning to read and write. So French youngsters are more likely to pick the right career area, if not necessarily the right job at the start.]
Finally, Chirac has flung down the gauntlet at Allah decisively: Any attack or planned attack will be met with all possible force, including nuclear.
Our opinion leaders also like to deride France's policy of short work weeks. Nonsense. If the 35-hour week was bad for business, France would be dismally failing and we would be triumphantly succeeding. It's the other way around, dammit.
France has about 1/6 of our population, yet it has three major NON-BANKRUPT auto companies (Renault, Citroen, Peugeot) and several smaller specialty firms. France has Airbus, which competes on the same level as Boeing. France runs a large trade surplus with us directly, and France's overall trade balance has been strongly positive for many years. It turned negative for the first time in 2004, at roughly $800 per person. America's global trade balance has been strongly negative for many years, getting worse fast; in 2004 it was $2800 per person.
Yes, I know economists tell us that trade deficits mean nothing. Sorry, I don't buy that line any more. Our specific trade deficit means that China owns us.
What do we have to show for our 70-hour weeks and two-earner families? Oversized and refinanced houses that nobody has time to enjoy.
Casinos and mortgages. That's where the American economy is going: Bets and debts. ¶ 9:11 AM
