4,316,17 million people in mainland France is out of work in April this year, and that is the biggest increase in registered unemployment and the highest level since series began in January of 1996 amid the coronavirus epidemic.
Youth unemployment rate in France increased to 20,4 percent in March. 2,5 million aged 25 to 49 is out of work. 1,1 million over aged 50 or more is unemployed and that among young people went up by nearly 150 percent.
15 years ago, protesters in France took to the streets but they were a lot more different then today. Back then, most of them were people from the black community. Now, it is different. The protesters are not only black but white and they are in all ages.
The growth in France is very slow. GDP in France plummeted 5,4 percent in the first quarter of 2020, which means they have one foot in the recession area. A bad number in Q2 means they are officially in a recession.
France is the seventh largest economy in the world and the second largest in the Euro-Area. France has a large and diversified industrial and agricultural base which includes aircraft, military equipment, perfunes, pharmaceuticals, wine, beef and wheat production.
France is also the most visited country in the world with at least 82 million foreign tourists visiting France every year. 79 percent of their total GDP comes from service which is their biggest sector of the economy.
France is the second largest exporter of agricultural products in the world, and agriculture contributes 2 percent to their.GDP.
60 percent of people`s hard earned money went to the state of France 20 years ago, but now the slashed the rate to «only» 45 percent.
The corporate tax rate in France stands at 33,3 percent. Down from 50 percent in the early 80`s.
Something happened when Francois Mitterrand entered the scene. He was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he was the first left-wing politician to assume the presidency under the fifth Republic.
Reflecting family influences, Mitterand started political life on the Catholic nationalist right.
He joined the Resistance and moved to the left, and held ministerial office several times under the Fourth Republic. Mitterand opposed de Gaulle`s establichment of the Fifth Republic.
Mitterand invited the Communist Party into his first government, which was a controversial decision at the time. In the event, the Communists were boxed in as junior partners and, rather than taking advantage, saw their support erode.
They left the cabinet in 1984. Early in his first term, Metterand followed a radical left-wing economic agenda, including nationalisation of key firms, but after two years, with the economy in crisis, he reversed course.
He pushed a socially liberal agenda with erforms such as the abolition of the death penalty, the 38-hour week, and the end of a government monopoly in radio and television broadcasting. His foreign and defense policies built on those of his Gaullist predecessors.
His partnership with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl advanced European integration via Maastricht Treaty, but he reluctantly accepted German reunification.
Beyond making the French left electable, Mitterand presided over the rise of the Socialist Party to dominance of the left, and the decline of the once-mighty Communist Party (as a share of the popular vote in the first presidential round, the Communists shrank from a peak of 21,27% in 1969 to 8,66% in 1995). Something happened.
It was a shift in May 1968.
In the beginning of May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, and the occupation of universities and factories.
At the height of events, which have since become known as May 68, the economy of France came to a halt.
The protests reached such a point that political leaders feared civil war or revolution. The national governement briefly ceased to function after President Charles de Gaulle secretly fled France to Germany at one point.
The protests spurred movements worldwide, with songs, imaginative graffiti, posters, and slogans. Some of the slogans was this; Je suis Marxiste (I`m a Marxist), Marx, Mao, Marcuse (also know as 3M), CRS = SS (CRS is the general reserve of the French police).
The unrest began with a series of student occupation protests against capitalism, consumerism, American imperialism and traditional institutions. Heavy police repression of the protesters led France`s trade union confederations to call for sympathy strikes, which spread far more quickly than expected to involve 11 million workers, more than 22% of the total population of France at the time.
The movement was characterized by spontaneous and decentralized wildcat disposition; this created a contrast and at times even conflict internally amongest the trade unions and the parties of the left. It was the largest general strike ever attempted in France, and the first nationwide general strike.
The student occupations and general strikes initiated across France were met with forceful confrontation by university administrators and police. The de Gaulle administration`s attempts to quell those strikes by police action only inflamed the situation further, leading to street battles with the police in the Latin Quarter, Paris.
However, by late May, the flow of eents changed.
The genelle accords concluded on 27 May, between the government, trade unions and employers, won significant wage gains for workers. A counter-demonstration organised by the Gaullist party on 29 May in central Paris gave De Gaulle the confidence to dissolve the National Assembly and call for parliamentary elections for 23 June 1968.
Violence evaporated almost as quickly as it arose. Workers went backk to their jobs, and when the elections were held in June, the Gaullists emerged stronger than before.
The events of May 1968 continue to influence French society. The period is considered a cultural, social and moral turning point in the history of the country. It is considered to be a social revolution, not a political one.
The French Communists and French Socialists formed an electoral alliance. Communists had long supported Socialist candidates in elections, but in the «February Declaration» the two parties agreed to attempt to form a joint government to replace President Charles de Gaulle and his Gaullist Party.
Personal Income Tax is one of the highest in France. About half of the hard working money is going straight to the state. On top of that, people in France must pay lots of money every single day if they drive a car on the road. They have toll roads in France.
If you drive from Boreaux to Paris, it costs 55,60 euros for Classes A and 85,60 euros for Classes B. The cost from Marseille to Paris will cost you 59,50 euros for Classes A and 93,70 euros for Classes B. The yellow vest proteters took control of the toll roads a year ago. The same protesters were also called anti-fuel protesters.
4,3 million people is out of work in France in April 2020. Personal Income Tax is 45% and it cost 93,70 euros (103,79 US Dollars) for Classes B to take a trip from Marseille to Paris. In addition; Many French households pay more in electicity than consumers elsewhere in Europe.
The growth in France is declining and a recession is imminent. So are a deep depression. France government debt to GDP is 98,1%. Cost of food in France increased 3,70% in April 2020 and that`s the highest food inflation rate since March 2012. The cost of living in France is rising.
In France, the welfare system make up for about 500 billion euros annually, or more than 30% of GDP. Unemployment benefits in France is minimum 28,86 euros per day, and maximum 245,04 euros per day.
France`s social programs is health care which is a system developed in 1945 and slowly became the EU`s most complicated. So is the Pension system, Family insurance system, the housing system, the education system and the unemployment insurance.
The recession is on Macron`s table. A business brain like Trump will cut the taxes, but people on the other side believe higher taxes and more expensive toll roads means more money to the state.
To contact the author of this story: Ket Garden at post@shinybull.com
Ket Garden
Shiny bull 