Jobs and unemployment

The IREF figures on civil servants’ working time in the OECD countries were quoted in the radio show “Carrément Brunet” on RMC.

By Nicolas Lecaussin

In France the national economy and the fate of thousands of employees are regularly linked to the grand “social conference”. Successive presidents have paid tribute to the ritual of “social dialogue”. Nicolas Sarkozy did so several times during his presidency with well-known results: the unions firmly opposed the timid attempts at reform and finally called for a vote for the socialist candidate in May 2012. François Hollande enthusiastically followed suit by imposing a two-day “grand social conference” in July 2012.

By Nicolas Lecaussin

The French government recently announced the creation of 100 000 green jobs over the next three years. The goal is of course to stem rising unemployment. However, the tangible results of creating green jobs in several countries, as well as the real costs of these jobs, should have given food for thought before taking action.

In France, an IREF study (“Les mythes des emplois verts”) published in early 2011 showed that the term is ambiguous and calculated the real cost of a green job, based on official reports. The definition of green jobs is rather vague, although there is an official handbook on green growth (“Focus on 50 professions for green growth”). Among these, most already exist (gardeners, sewermen, cleaners, geologists …). Others seem to come straight out of a vaudeville: nature discovery guide, eco-museum guide, eco-interpreter, nature guide…

This paper provides both a theoretical framework and an experimental test to analyze how individual responsibility affects social preferences for redistribution in settings where individuals are differentially subjected to the probability of a productivity shock. Our results confirm the predictions of the theoretical section of the paper which presents the redistribution game as a public good game.

By Nicolas Lecaussin

Can you imagine that unemployment has been “priority number one” for French politicians over the past 35 years! Left, right and center have all claimed that their first objective was to reduce unemployment, in particular among young people. Yet they have failed every time. Former president Nicolas Sarkozy regularly repeated that “the French social model has protected us from the crisis”.

“What would you (try to) do to save your country from economic collapse?” This is indeed a difficult and tricky question, and one that is normally answered along the lines of interventionist economic thinking. The fatal conceit that Hayek wrote about is embedded in this same question: it assumes that the leader of the State will be able to take the appropriate actions to lead the economy (a very complex social order) to whatever goals.

In 2009, 31.3% of the French GDP has been spent on welfare payments. Those include spending by the State-managed health care system, unemployment benefits and social benefits. The government agency in charge of those payments has tripled its deficits during the past 3 years reaching a record 28 billion € in 2010. The annual amount of welfare payments reached 597,5 billion € in 2009, which is largely superior to the whole amount of the Greek debt (€328 billion).

This is the world economy real GDP expansion since 1980. It lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.

This paper appeared in The Wall Street Journal.

When the economic crisis struck in 2008, the French government assured its citizens that our social model would protect and cushion us; that we would not be hit nearly as hard as other countries in the downturn.

Two years later, one can hardly claim that France has been shielded by its social model. Unemployment has risen constantly, even more strongly than for our peers such as the U.K. and Germany. Even Germany has emerged better off than France, with its excellent export figures.

The French ministers decided not to follow the example of their Spanish colleagues and keep their salary at the current level (about 14 000 €). They considered that to cut…