Must we work harder?

Jun 22nd 2013

INSPIRED by the wartime programme of the National Resistance Council, the French welfare state was designed to “free workers from the uncertainty of tomorrow” by giving them publicly financed insurance against illness, joblessness, maternity, invalidity and old age. Over the past 60 years, France’s vast social-security system has nearly tripled in size. Public social spending now accounts for 32% of GDP, more than in any other member of the OECD club of rich countries (see chart)...... Three issues are on Mr Hollande’s list: pensions, family benefits and unemployment payments.Funds for all three are in the red. The deficit of the pension branch of the social-security system will swell from €15 billion ($20 billion) to €20.9 billion by 2020. The deficit for family benefits will reach €2.6 billion this year; for unemployment pay, it will be €4.8 billion..... Were the unpopular Mr Hollande a more ambitious reformer, he would go much further and faster on pensions. He would not only raise the retirement age but harmonise the rules for private and public pensions, the source of a huge perceived grievance.Civil servants and special categories such as railway or electricity workers enjoy wildly beneficial rules. Paris metro and bus workers, for instance, may still retire at the age of 50, rising to 52 only in 2017. Yet a radical overhaul looks increasingly unlikely. To do it would touch the backbone of Mr Hollande’s public-sector electorate, particularly the nearly 1m teachers. ....ToRead More.....

My Take - Does anyone beside me see any similarities here? We have absolute, incontrovertible proof that these insane socialist plans end in bankruptcy! So what do we do? We make them bigger! Now.....does anyone beside me think that is insane? Make no mistake about this.   Where they are allowed to exist, the public sector unions are going to bankrupt every state in the nation if they are allowed to continue to exist. I think we're looking at the French forming a 6th Republic. Of course, it would be started the more radical socialists and it would only get worse. Since they can't even begin to meet the costs to which they are already obligated, I would have to believe any new central planning government would then have determine what to do with all these people on the public's dole. Which makes me wonder; is there such a thing as a French Gulag?