Why Americans should move to France - according to one Twitter thread from a Nobel Prize winner
France has been dragged into the early stages of the US presidential elections, with one politician's economic plans being slammed as 'like living in France' - but what's wrong with that?
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.
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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.
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