Comments on Quiet the Thunder: Vive la France?

slvrnmph, Agreed with Milena that what Obama has ...

2009-05-20T19:56:23.916-04:00

slvrnmph,

Agreed with Milena that what Obama has planned in terms of an FDR-type administration with lots more government agencies will definitely not work. Case in point? My trip to Social Security to get my last name changed a couple months ago. 4-5 government workers, one of them actually working to get through 40 people. I almost stabbed myself with my pen.

@slvrnmph - I wasn't trying to prove our economy "...

2009-05-20T18:40:14.874-04:00

@slvrnmph - I wasn't trying to prove our economy "works." But it certainly "works" better than France. I was trying to illustrate that becoming more like France would be a terrible mistake.

Furthermore, what I didn't mention, but I thought would be self-evident, was that much of what is wrong with our economy is France-style economic schemes: large government, centralized control, excess bureaucracy.

Comparing our economy to France doesn't prove that...

2009-05-20T14:20:59.020-04:00

Comparing our economy to France doesn't prove that our economy works. It doesn't. Watch Zeitgeist or the Esoteric Agenda. We may not want to turn into France, but we are currently doing is not working either.

What I loved was that a "real French person" disag...

2009-05-20T07:07:58.923-04:00

What I loved was that a "real French person" disagrees with French economic policies. I constantly hear the complaint that "unless you've had firsthand experience" you are not allowed to speak with authority on a subject. I get this so often with economics.

As for the site redesign - thanks! I had a dream about it. Weird, huh? I woke up at 6am last Sunday and changed the whole thing. I'm liking it so far.

Milena, Thanks so much for this great post! I've...

2009-05-19T21:57:02.842-04:00

Milena,

Thanks so much for this great post! I've always been a little suspicious of the French. They enjoy le vin a little toooo much. But really, this is great in shedding light on how France's economic policies slow down innovation, which as every budding economist knows, slows down GDP growth.

P.S. Love the site redesign!