What Can France Teach the United States About Free Markets
Ip explains that because France is governed by European Union (EU) regulations and the EU sees "competition policy as key to stamping out dangerous economic nationalism and protectionism. Coal and steel trusts had underpinned the Nazi war machine and thus they were the first industries to be transferred to European from national oversight" and it's this vendetta of making sure that history doesn't repeat itself in cases such as World War II where France has started to flourish. The EU recognizes that competition not only ensures that better prices are being delivered, but also ensures that it is harder for monopolies to form- a lesson that was taught after the Germans were able to gather so much funding and power from the monopolistic entities such as coal and steel. The United States has not had to learn such a lesson and hence is not as dedicated to preventing monopolies. Because of this free market competition that France is benefiting from from EU policies, one example being the airline industry. In 2007, Air France had a monopoly on flights within the nation. After French reformers declared that a rival from Britain, EasyJet could enter the market, prices decreased. US airlines on the other hand don't allow foreign carriers on domestic routes so the 4 major airlines can dictate their prices rather than allowing the market to. It is in areas like this that the United States could perhaps learn a thing or two from the French and their free market strategies.
See original article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-franceyes-francecan-teach-the-u-s-about-free-markets-11567591204
Picture: http://www.startribune.com/it-s-time-for-business-leaders-to-stand-up-for-the-community/379462921/
Thank you for the inspiring blog.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Foreign Affairs’ publication, on the 21st century, France faces four major challenges. The first is globalization, which is often blamed for the erosion of France's culture and its depressingly high levels of unemployment. (Last year, one of Paris' biggest bestsellers was a tract titled The Economic Horror -- a bitter philippic against globalization's ills.)
In my opinion and based on the published information, the idea behind the approach of France toward trade barriers is mainly to eliminate unemployment and maintain a standard of living for its population.