| To the Barricades |
2 June 2003
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French Strike Over Pensions
France, like much of Europe, has a problem, and for those Americans who are glad of any suffering by their former ally, this is serious enough to forgive the past unpleasantness. The French have too many people headed for retirement and too few people to fund the "pay-as-you-go" pension system. The government's efforts to address the problem only achieved a strike called to protest any changes.
Germany and Italy have similar problems, and Japan has suffered this for a while now. What makes the French situation so severe is the French habit of taking to the streets. In the past, this has led to the Commune of 1870 to say nothing of the episode known as the French Revolution -- which provided mankind with the guillotine, the Terror (which like French wine, came in red and white), and the Napoleonic Wars.
While the Fifth Republic is in no danger of collapse, the French risk almost permanent instability in even dealing with the problem. However, national bankruptcy is the result of failure to deal with it. The solution, though, is to create a pension system that spans the Eurozone. This will allow everyone to adopt a new system that fudges the current problem by setting new standards at the EU level.
Without that, the US will have to deal with European governments that fall with as much frequency as Italy's used to. Formulating policy with unstable regimes is difficult at the best of times, and dealing with a Europe that isn't run by long-lived governments will result in even more US unilateralism and less cooperation when it would be useful. Rather than cheer the strife, Americans should look to their own best interests and hope the French and the rest of Europe can solve this problem -- it's one America will have to face soon enough itself.