5 ms·

I heard this argument for the 35h work week in France. 10 years later, it proved baseless.

kmlx 7y ago
uh, not sure that using france as an example is smart as france has been a laggard in terms of economic performance for the past decade. this meant it being basically leapfrogged by a number of countries from across the world. end result? better quality of life, better infrastructure, etc etc outside of france than inside.
- BiteCode_dev 7y ago
  I live there. I've lived in many other countries as well. And I keep traveling. I experienced the total opposite of your comment. I've seen the road in the US. I've seen the health care in the UK. I've seen the internet in Spain. I've seen the cost of life in Switzerland. Heck, I've worked in Asia and Africa. There are not a lot of countries where life felt as good as in France: germany, sweden, etc. There are also not a lot of countries where people complain more than the French. It's a national sport.
  - klarstrup 7y ago
    > There are also not a lot of countries where people complain more than the French. It's a national sport. Sounds like it's working
    - BiteCode_dev 7y ago
      Clearly you have not lived in France :D We complain about the US politics. We complain about the weather. We complain about how much we complain. I'm pretty sure the gov cancels your citizenship if you don't reach your weekly complain quota. It's a matter of national identity.
goatinaboat 7y ago
it proved baseless. Structurally high youth unemployment was the consequence. The French system is fantastic once you are over the hurdle of actually getting a permanent contract, but the barrier to entry is much higher than in comparable economies such as the UK. It just depends which segment of the population you are optimising for.
- klarstrup 7y ago
  Back in the old days the English really knew how to keep youth employment high
- BiteCode_dev 7y ago
  It's more about the fact we can't fire anybody, so hiring is a scary game.

kmlx 7y ago

uh, not sure that using france as an example is smart as france has been a laggard in terms of economic performance for the past decade. this meant it being basically leapfrogged by a number of countries from across the world. end result? better quality of life, better infrastructure, etc etc outside of france than inside.

BiteCode_dev 7y ago
I live there. I've lived in many other countries as well. And I keep traveling. I experienced the total opposite of your comment. I've seen the road in the US. I've seen the health care in the UK. I've seen the internet in Spain. I've seen the cost of life in Switzerland. Heck, I've worked in Asia and Africa. There are not a lot of countries where life felt as good as in France: germany, sweden, etc. There are also not a lot of countries where people complain more than the French. It's a national sport.
- klarstrup 7y ago
  > There are also not a lot of countries where people complain more than the French. It's a national sport. Sounds like it's working
  - BiteCode_dev 7y ago
    Clearly you have not lived in France :D We complain about the US politics. We complain about the weather. We complain about how much we complain. I'm pretty sure the gov cancels your citizenship if you don't reach your weekly complain quota. It's a matter of national identity.

goatinaboat 7y ago

it proved baseless. Structurally high youth unemployment was the consequence. The French system is fantastic once you are over the hurdle of actually getting a permanent contract, but the barrier to entry is much higher than in comparable economies such as the UK. It just depends which segment of the population you are optimising for.

klarstrup 7y ago
Back in the old days the English really knew how to keep youth employment high
BiteCode_dev 7y ago
It's more about the fact we can't fire anybody, so hiring is a scary game.