And what model might a second Macron failure set for the rest of the world? If France can’t reform, how can other countries, weighed down by rapidly aging populations and fragile economies, manage?Ĭurrently, all men and women in France can retire with full pensions at 62 – tied with Sweden and Norway for the lowest retirement age in western Europe. The question in the face of the French public’s pig-headedness is whether Macron’s determination and appeal to rational economics is enough. More recently, they’ve marched hordes of sheep and pigs through the streets of Paris in protest against rising farming costs. In the 1980s, when I lived on the Rue de Solférino, across the street from the headquarters of the ruling Socialist Party, farmers dumped truckloads of carrots in protest against agricultural reforms.
The French have long and fiercely defended their labor rights in the face of government reform. “Otherwise, we’ll be financing our retirement system on credit,” Macron said. In announcing the plan, the Macron government pointed out that without some reform, the nation’s budget risks accumulating an almost $20 billion annual deficit by 2030. The French budget risks floundering on pensions that are siphoning off nearly 14% of the nation’s GDP each year – roughly twice the drain than in the United Sates and behind only Italy and Greece in Europe. The first nationwide protest strike has already been fixed for January 19.īut Macron is a determined man. On Tuesday, the French government announced plans to raise the official retirement age from 62 to 64 to qualify for a full pension.īacklash from trade unions was swift.
Now, four years later, trying again with a few tweaks of appeasement, Macron doesn’t seem very likely to escape a much different fate.
0 kommentar(er)
