The next US presidential election isn't for another year, but campaigning has started and Democrat Elizabeth Warren has been ruffling some feathers with her plans for increasing taxation to pay for healthcare.
The latest attack comes from New York Times columnist Steven Rattner, who wrote: “She would turn America’s uniquely successful public-private relationship into a dirigiste, European-style system. If you want to live in France (economically), Elizabeth Warren should be your candidate.”
But what's wrong with living in France?
Aside from all the obvious good stuff – the wine, the many delicious ways to melt cheese, the generous public holiday allocation – there are also sound economic reasons for Americans to move to France.
This is the opinion of Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, who has written a short Twitter thread explaining why actually Americans might be better off in France.
I see that Steve Rattner is using France as a cautionary tale: “If you want to live in France (economically), Elizabeth Warren should be your candidate.” Just asking: would that be so terrible? 1/ https://t.co/lGJmAnJYu1
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) November 5, 2019
France has plenty of problems — and the euro has turned into a terrible economic straitjacket. But France gets very bad press that isn't borne out by the facts. Did you know, for example, that prime-age adults are *more* likely to be employed there than here? 2/ pic.twitter.com/bWjwAk1irT
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) November 5, 2019
Meanwhile, income growth for the bottom half of the population has been better there than here 3/ pic.twitter.com/5CFHdEp6ik
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) November 5, 2019
And thanks in part to universal health care, when it comes to life expectancy there's no comparison. (I liked the theory that it was all about red wine, but apparently researchers don't believe that anymore) 4/ pic.twitter.com/saaCRdKIm1
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) November 5, 2019
France is no utopia. But the idea that it's some kind of hellhole is weirdly out of touch with reality. On the Rawls test — which society would you choose if you didn't know who you'd be — France surely beats America 5/
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) November 5, 2019
And with around 31,000 Americans making France their permanent residence, he's clearly not the only one to have seen the many advantages that France offers.
Krugman received his Nobel price for studies of economies of scale and worldwide trade. So, there is absolutely no reason to listen to his ideas about taxes or any other topic because you don’t ask your dentist about neurology. 🙂
The US so called healthcare system is an expensive and unfair joke. After we bought a secondary home here in France we discovered the excellent healthcare system. It is absolutely fantastic. I still have to deal with the idiotic system in the US as we provide insurance for our employees. My fellow Americans are completely brainwashed.
Interesting comments from “Scott”, who plainly needs to do some reading to get his facts right and a course in English grammar in order to express his prejudices properly.
“granted”
Nobel prizes go to the top leftists of the year in their respective fields.
That was obvious when Barack Obama was grant the peace prize simply because he won the 2008 election, and he hadn’t even been swore in as president yet.
I think it was just a way to get him some cash before he took office, as were his two books.
I wouldn’t trust anything Krugman says. Just another partisan leftist masquerading as a “journalist.”
But despite Krugman’s support for it, I’m still thinking of moving to France someday.