Reply #3: Paul Krugman, NYT: French Family Values

[non sociopath skin]

Maybe Old Yoorp doesn't need the Neocons as much as Shrub thinks they do...

The Skin

Now, there's no reason a country can't have both an excellent health care system and a troubled economy (or vice versa). But are European economies really doing that badly?

The answer is no. Americans are doing a lot of strutting these days, but a head-to-head comparison between the economies of the United States and Europe - France, in particular - shows that the big difference is in priorities, not performance. We're talking about two highly productive societies that have made a different tradeoff between work and family time. And there's a lot to be said for the French choice.

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<snip>

It's true that France's G.D.P. per person is well below that of the United States. But that's because French workers spend more time with their families.

Article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/29/opinion/29krugman.html?th&emc=th