Boy oh boy, I am sure some of you read this. It pleased me immensely though. The CEO of Titan tire basically pissed all over France. As an American and a Libertarian, nothing pleases me more than to watch socialistic policies fail (as they always do).
More on point, the employment laws in France are absolutely insane. It is nearly impossible to fire anyone and as a result hiring stagnates.
Here are some excerpted gems:
"The French workforce gets paid high wages but works only three hours. They get one hour for breaks and lunch, talk for three and work for three,"
"Titan is the one with the money and the talent to produce tires. What does the crazy union have? It has the French government."
God, I love this man.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/20/us-france-workers-idUSBRE91J0…
Sadly I fear that this is the direction Murica' is taking. Meaning that we are becoming more like France.
I agree. Very sad. Just enough step towards irrelevancy that this once great nation is taking.
I don't see anything pleasant about moving in the direction that france is in. What could possibly make socialism look appealing?
the Scandinavian countries (though they are rich as fuck in natural resources, so they can support their habits)
@ ANT - Is this some Italian/French rivalry going on? LOL
oui oui oui, je socialist party!
The CEO had a really good message until he threw in the part about going to China and India for lower wage. He should have grilled the hell out of the French by talking about how no rational nation would have a 75% tax rate.
LOL why waste the time? It's not going to change anything in France. If he wants to get cheaper "tyres" in India, just do it.
Just everything about France pisses me off. Their surrendering. Their taxes. Their attitude. Who the fuck eats snails. Snot with a shell.
Socialists. Barf.
What foolish reasons. You are pissed because of their "surrendering"? Their "attitude"? I really hope you're not serious. Have you ever even eaten escargot?
Are you actually German, or are you an American with German ancestry?
I am American. I was answering a question about ancestry. I am not a huge fan of Germany either.
And dude, learn humor. If you think I dislike France solely for those reasons I think your career in standup is DOA.
LOL Germany. LOL all of Europe. What a joke. What a bunch of has beens. An entire continent of people who don't want to admit that they peaked a century ago.
DISCLAIMER: been boozing, so, kind of shooting my mouth off
I'm German. I detest the lazy Italians just as much as the French. Although Italian food is must more palatable than anything France puts out. With exception to the croissant.
http://qz.com/55342/frances-labor-productivity-is-better-than-germanys-…
Italian food makes up for their laziness imho. I've never almost blown my load eating food except when I had caprese and trofie alla putanesca at this place: http://www.latavernadeiforiimperiali.com
PS- we've been bashing a ton of European countries so much, I just gotta give a shout out: Switzerland somehow stays their same old, badass self year in and year out. Fucking love those people. And their cheese. And their chocolate...
Europe is just a mess. And it isn't going to get better. With the wave and high birth rates of Islamic immigrants into all areas of Europe we will see socialism's true face. See, socialism works fine in small towns or counties with similar peoples because humans help those who are alike. When Norwegians are paying taxes out the ass to support people from Tunisia who shit out kids like rabbits and are very different than the rest of Norway, then we will see how they really like a government who takes from the makers and gives to the takers.
You are already seeing these tensions. Restrictions on Mosque building. Restrictions on Islamic clothing. It will only get worse. The riots in England were a great example of the tension also. France has soup kitchens that only serve pork soup so Jews and Muslims can't eat it. Yeah, that is wonderfully tolerant Europe for you.
Enjoy those high taxes boys.
Since GDP is the value of all goods and services products in a country and this article is comparing GDP per hour of work, wouldn't this be skewed by luxury goods and other high priced items? This isn't a true measure of productive worth or labor efficiency and effectiveness.
The article also talks about hours worked and how including overtime the average work week was just shy of 40. Well that is 5 hours of overtime pay when it should be zero hours of overtime pay.
That's how worker productivity is measured. Who gives a shit if you can make a ton of widgets per hour if the widgets aren't worth anything?
Because it doesn't measure labor cost, labor effectiveness, etc. It simply states GDP / Hours Worked.
So France might be better than Germany or they might be selling really high priced items, like wine and Louis Vuitton.
Imagine a world where a lazy guy works 40 hours and produces a $5.00 leather bag that sells for $400 because of fashion and brand. GDP = $400. GDP per hour = $10.00
Imagine a world where a hard worker works 40 and produces a $40.00 machined part that goes into a generator. The part sells for $40.00. GDP = $40.00. GDP per hour = $1.00.
So which county is better? Which country is more dynamic and competitive on a global scale? The lazy guy making a bag or the hard working guy making an important part that generates value.
Now France has EADS and produces a bunch of machinery and goods so I am not trying to say all they produce is wine and bags, but I would like to look into this more and think it is an interesting thesis. France has very restrictive labor laws, powerful unions and high taxation. I find it interesting that this environment would trump say Germany or other countries that one would think are more productive or have better/higher working labor.
So maybe France is a undiscovered gem. Or maybe that piece of shit article you linked to is simply looking at the issue superficially.
But pardon me for questioning you.
i know a couple people moving out of france ASAP due to the 75% tax over 1mm
i think the economist had a 15 page special on the french economy being the next european economy to tank back in november
Yep I saw a special on Sotheby's (so completely non-bias politically) talking about how there has never been so much highend-real estate on the French market so now is the time to buy (this was directed to a Chinese audience). Reason being? French old money is selling off their assets to avoid huge tax burdens on property combined with huge income tax hikes. So you have the French selling beautiful estates and homes to wealthy Chinese because of the tax structure. How fucked is that...
Different countries have different value systems. Not a huge deal, here.
The US lives to work. France works to live.
Shit, if I only wanted to work a simple job and didn't have a ton of ambition, I'd rather work in France. Think about it, the entire country is all about work / life balance, and you get universal healthcare.
If the CEO wants better workers he either needs to make the shit in the US or use slaves in China / Thailand. (Yes, I know we pay them, but let's be honest here.)
No doubt. But we also live in a world where others will eat your lunch. France doesn't exist in a vacuum. They are raising taxes to pay for this lush lifestyle and people are leaving. This happy and expensive labor force is losing jobs to harder working upstarts. And luxury goods are nice until other countries do it cheaper and better.
Look at the hit the Germans took when Lexus, Infinity and Acura gained in prominence. People though Hyundai was shit 1 decade ago, now Toyota needs to watch their backs.
I agree, but there can also be a balance. Just as France will face competition from cheaper labor, eventually the cheaper labor in Asia will want to be paid more and will want a legitimate middle class lifestyle.
And, yes, 75% tax rates might not be a great idea, but if the culture supports having a legitimate welfare state where basically everyone buys into the ideas of taking care of each other and working to live (not vice versa), then it can work. It would never work here, but it doesn't mean it can't work at all.
I will agree with you that it's much easier for that sort of system to work in a country that's basically homogenous. i.e.) Norway.
Europe isn't all bad and I get their socialistic tendencies since many of them are homogenous with culture, etc. But they are also very racist (see French pork soup, Italian racist soccer, anti Islam, etc). Socialism works in a homogeneous culture because everyone is your brother. Just like in small town America with volunteer firemen, spaghetti dinners, churches helping families, etc. It doesn't work on a grand scale in a diverse country because I don't identify with hillbillies down south or inner city gang bangers.
As Europe becomes more immigrant these socialistic systems will feel pressure. You think someone in France wants to pay 75% of their salary so someone from Morocco can get lush social services? No f'ing way.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/01/03/us-france-soup-pork-idUSL0226…
[quote=TNA]Europe isn't all bad and I get their socialistic tendencies since many of them are homogenous with culture, etc. But they are also very racist (see French pork soup, Italian racist soccer, anti Islam, etc). Socialism works in a homogeneous culture because everyone is your brother. Just like in small town America with volunteer firemen, spaghetti dinners, churches helping families, etc. It doesn't work on a grand scale in a diverse country because I don't identify with hillbillies down south or inner city gang bangers.
As Europe becomes more immigrant these socialistic systems will feel pressure. You think someone in France wants to pay 75% of their salary so someone from Morocco can get lush social services? No f'ing way.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/01/03/us-france-soup-pork-idUSL0226…]
Great read thanks TNA
[quote=TNA]Europe isn't all bad and I get their socialistic tendencies since many of them are homogenous with culture, etc. But they are also very racist (see French pork soup, Italian racist soccer, anti Islam, etc). Socialism works in a homogeneous culture because everyone is your brother. Just like in small town America with volunteer firemen, spaghetti dinners, churches helping families, etc. It doesn't work on a grand scale in a diverse country because I don't identify with hillbillies down south or inner city gang bangers.
As Europe becomes more immigrant these socialistic systems will feel pressure. You think someone in France wants to pay 75% of their salary so someone from Morocco can get lush social services? No f'ing way.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/01/03/us-france-soup-pork-idUSL0226…]
And couldn't agree more with your overall analysis. Socialism feels good when it's your neighbor that you're paying another 10 percentage points on. Not so good when it's some guy from Egypt who lives 500 miles away and doesn't know your language, culture, values, work ethic etc etc and absolutely refuses to learn any of it, yet wants to live in France. This is ultimately why socialism will fail in Europe where there is a strong nationalist sentiment (nothing wrong with that). In America...I'm not sure, whites have been stripped of identity in modern culture,media, etc for a while so socialism might fly here. Because otherwise, you're racist.
I absolutely agree with you on that, that's why I identify as: -Federal: libertarian(ish) - Need strong nat def, for one, a couple other programs I agree with at this level that many libs don't -State: moderate Republican - can handle some programs that the federal government can't/shouldn't -County: meh -Local: essentially a socialist, depending on the size of your locality.
Soluta beatae debitis explicabo voluptatem doloremque. Ut non autem et. Consequuntur aliquam voluptas ut totam. Et aliquid earum eligendi autem voluptatem nihil.
Odio mollitia temporibus labore aut molestias veniam. Omnis dolor placeat a pariatur ut blanditiis. Autem sunt distinctio et porro quaerat pariatur velit.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Sequi et aut id ut eius rem facilis sint. Quia maiores voluptatem earum aut ipsam. Qui mollitia eum doloribus veniam asperiores. Beatae fuga voluptatem sed et soluta assumenda perferendis. Eos eos dolorem placeat praesentium cupiditate voluptas est commodi.
Sapiente quia quia doloribus. Provident iste consequatur temporibus dolore. Animi saepe voluptas ea occaecati deleniti tenetur rerum qui. Nostrum quae ducimus ut nesciunt dolorem rerum.
Sed vero quia quos sapiente. Rerum dicta labore ipsam.