French riots
Reading about the French riots and reading The Church and the Market together prompt the following:
The reason pundits give for the French riots (French pundits, anyway) seems to be something like this: "The youth in the suburbs are discriminated against, have little hope of advancement,* and so have given up on France. In their despair, they are rioting." Let's assume that's true, at least in part.
Why does French society offer so few opportunities to these youth? I doubt it is because of inherent racism, although that may play a role.** The underlying reason is that the French economy is in the grips of a statist stranglehold that chokes off job creation. Woods is quite clear on this issue (not with respect to France in particular but as a general matter) - just substitute French for Catholic in the passage below:
(p. 43)
* My favorite book title by a French pundit, and one that almost makes me regret not reading French, is Aziz Senni's The social elevator is broken, I took the stairs.
**The Financial Times reported a study today that found that identical job applications got five times more responses when a French sounding name was used compared to when an Arab name was used.
Update: David Beito a similar analysis over at Liberty and Power.
The reason pundits give for the French riots (French pundits, anyway) seems to be something like this: "The youth in the suburbs are discriminated against, have little hope of advancement,* and so have given up on France. In their despair, they are rioting." Let's assume that's true, at least in part.
Why does French society offer so few opportunities to these youth? I doubt it is because of inherent racism, although that may play a role.** The underlying reason is that the French economy is in the grips of a statist stranglehold that chokes off job creation. Woods is quite clear on this issue (not with respect to France in particular but as a general matter) - just substitute French for Catholic in the passage below:
Thus, for example, that every man should earn a "family wage" that allows his family to live in reasonable comfort is a desirable social goal. The strong implication of some Catholic social thinkers that such an outcome can be brought into existence by decree, however, that man's will can establish such a state of affairs by his ipse dixit, and that no recourse to any so-called economic law can be of any help in ascertaining the probable outcome of such measures, is no more intellectually defensible than the suggestion that man's desire to fly renders superflous any need to take into account the law of gravity.
(p. 43)
* My favorite book title by a French pundit, and one that almost makes me regret not reading French, is Aziz Senni's The social elevator is broken, I took the stairs.
**The Financial Times reported a study today that found that identical job applications got five times more responses when a French sounding name was used compared to when an Arab name was used.
Update: David Beito a similar analysis over at Liberty and Power.
Posted by Andy Morriss on
Monday November 7, 2005 at 6:51pm