2008 Woodie Awards
Vive le status quo?
Repeal of Youth Job Law Leaves France in Same Dire Straits
Alexandra Neale
Issue date: 4/20/06 Section: Opinions
It's a generally understood concept that change is inevitable. People change, situations change and yes, even the world as a whole changes- whether it is for better or worse. And now, as the world enters a fiercely competitive 21st century marked by rapid globalization and national interdependence, every country has to decide how it will proceed. Will the nation go with change and structure its economy in a way that will make it important on the world stage or will the nation resist change and allow itself to wither away into insignificance and disarray? Judging by the weeks of protests and general national discord, the French seem determined to follow the latter path.
French President Jacques Chirac finally repealed the much-reviled youth job law, also known as the CPE, under intense pressure from student groups and workers' unions. The law, created for people under the age of 26, allowed businesses to hire workers under a two-year contract and fire them without explanation.
The protesters believed the law went too far. I think it didn't go far enough. Now, I fully support power to the people and the basic hallmarks of the social revolution; protest, equality and freedom of expression are all great in my opinion. But when, in the fervor of distrust and fear, people fail to acknowledge reality and face the future, both the citizens and the government stand to suffer.
Right now, the French economy is in bad shape. France currently has one of the highest rates of unemployed youth in the European Union. While the national unemployment rate is currently around 9.6 percent, double that of the United States, the youth unemployment rate stays at a worrying 22 percent. The socialist government's economic policies have left the economy inflexible and stagnant; France's economic growth last year was at 1.6 percent, compared to the United States at 3.5 percent, India at 7.6 percent and China at 10 percent. France is very slowly but surely becoming, despite its obvious protestations to the contrary, inconsequential to the international landscape.
French President Jacques Chirac finally repealed the much-reviled youth job law, also known as the CPE, under intense pressure from student groups and workers' unions. The law, created for people under the age of 26, allowed businesses to hire workers under a two-year contract and fire them without explanation.
The protesters believed the law went too far. I think it didn't go far enough. Now, I fully support power to the people and the basic hallmarks of the social revolution; protest, equality and freedom of expression are all great in my opinion. But when, in the fervor of distrust and fear, people fail to acknowledge reality and face the future, both the citizens and the government stand to suffer.
Right now, the French economy is in bad shape. France currently has one of the highest rates of unemployed youth in the European Union. While the national unemployment rate is currently around 9.6 percent, double that of the United States, the youth unemployment rate stays at a worrying 22 percent. The socialist government's economic policies have left the economy inflexible and stagnant; France's economic growth last year was at 1.6 percent, compared to the United States at 3.5 percent, India at 7.6 percent and China at 10 percent. France is very slowly but surely becoming, despite its obvious protestations to the contrary, inconsequential to the international landscape.
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