Burning the French Social Model

Johnny Munkhammar has some pointed words on the French socialist model:

The big state mentality clearly creates and worsens many of the conditions that lead to the kind of social desperation we're seeing in Paris. A regulated labor market creates unemployment. Those without jobs do not feel secure, but neither do those with jobs; they know how hard it would be to find another one. The young people in Western Europe -- often with many years of education -- can't find work and lose the hope for the future.



The high taxes required to support the Model do not simply reduce people's opportunities to run their own lives, they also put a brake on growth. Economic activity is low and living standards stagnant; and in several places they are deteriorating. Small businesses must pay high taxes and are extremely regulated, so that way to a better life is also shut for many.



The anti-social effects of the Model hit immigrants harder. Regulated housing markets produce ghetto-like suburbs. Since hiring always involves a risk for the employer, a regulated and unionized labor market excludes immigrants. They are deprived of their opportunities to compete. Reforms that take us away from this Model could solve much of this.

For a second there I thought Munkhammar might have been describing some conditions in New York city.