"Pensions may prove Sarkozy's watershed moment" is the title of the article by

[Joe Chi Minh]

Philppe Marliere in today's Guardian Online, linked below:

But, first, as a taster, here is a response by Manche Paul:

"France has the third highest productivity per hour worked.

Anyone tell me of UK companies doing well in France, like EDF, Veolia etc are in the UK? Or of the UK car companies competing so well internationally with Renault, Peugeot, Citroen?

There are a lot of people commenting who dislike France, and they are entitled to their opinion, or prejudice. But at the least they could Google some information rather than make dim assertions which can be refuted by facts.

There is no question that France, or any other developed country can afford to pay whatever pensions they choose at whatever age. It just requires that they make that choice out of all options open to them: increase taxation, build no more motorways, abandon nuclear weapons, reduce military spending in general, and hundreds of others. Sarkosy is making one particular choice. The French people are opposed to that and reject it."


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/sep/15/nicolas-sarkozy-pensions-watershed