the article can be found here: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/04/17/france.globalization.ap/index.html
As France faces an upcoming presidential election, globalization is one issue that may sway voters. for many years, france has been seen as being afraid of, and averse to, globalization. they have tried to keep their borders as closed as possible in order to preserve their jobs and economy. now, however, the french are slowly, very slowly, opening up and allowing that perhaps globalization is not all bad. most of the presidential candidates are for a limited amount of globalization, and the most anti-globalization candidate is lagging far behind in the polls, which appears to signify the beginnings of a change in french policy.
obviously none of the french economists have read "Naked Economics" because they have been so ani-global trade for so long. of course, that could have much more to do with the lack of the public's understanding of the tradeoffs of globalization. i believe, in the long run, opening the borders a little will have a very positive outcome for the french. they will be able to specialize much more.
the part of the article i found most interesting, however, was one paragraph about how the current president of france has allowed globalization on his own terms: "The outgoing government believes France should push for a kinder, gentler globalization, typified by outgoing President Jacques Chirac's international initiative for a tax on airline tickets to raise money for fighting diseases in poor countries."
a tax on plane tickets to raise money for fighting disease? can you IMAGINE trying to push that bill thru in the US?!?!?! i, personally, think that that's awesome! since lots of people fly, and since tickets are expensive already, it wouldn't have to be a large tax in order to make a lot of money. ingenious. and altruistic. beautiful.
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2 comments:
Globalization scares MANY people. Especially in industries that would be hardest hit (of course).
I don't think that tax would ever go through here. :)
Being a future international business major, i think the best way for France to go is global. With the huge advancements in technology over the last 20 years the world has really become smaller and more connected. Its much easier for countries to benefit from trade with other countries besides their neighbors.
As for the plane ticket tax... i could see many hissy-fits from that one if it were established here. Typical American attitudes would call for those who are traveling frequently to become upset because they are having to pay a tax to benefit poor countries much more often than the average flyer.
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