Today's Krugman: French Family Values

So much of the public dialogue, or rather public rant, in the US is so seriously distorted by ideology and quickie talking points that Americans have a difficult time not only deciding what is good for American society as a whole but also ever getting to the point where we have adequate tools for figuring out that question.

The French aren't historically unknown for buying into the intellectual deadend of ideology either. But they can often be better pragmatists than Americans are. The role of economy is as part of the contribution to a better life, not simply more accumulation or consumption as an end in itself. This is an idea that's been well-established since Aristotle.

But what is that better life? That's a question for genuine public debate, the one Americans don't have except around the perimeters of the broader public (academia, some thinktanks, some local groups). Part of the reason we don't have it is the sports-like approach to ideology. But part of it is also a lack of intellectual tools other than economic ones in public debate. When Britt Hume's first thought upon hearing of the London bombings is "time to buy," and other commentators and policy-makers consider first what effect given actions will have on the economy regardless of their otherwise goodness or evil, we've lost all moral sense on top of it. And therein lies the key. Those with moral and political imagination can carry on a rich and robust public debate about what's good for a society. Those who don't, can't.

Krugman:

...First things first: given all the bad-mouthing the French receive, you may be surprised that I describe their society as "productive." Yet according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, productivity in France - G.D.P. per hour worked - is actually a bit higher than in the United States.

It's true that France's G.D.P. per person is well below that of the United States. But that's because French workers spend more time with their families.

O.K., I'm oversimplifying a bit. There are several reasons why the French put in fewer hours of work per capita than we do. One is that some of the French would like to work, but can't: France's unemployment rate, which tends to run about four percentage points higher than the U.S. rate, is a real problem. Another is that many French citizens retire early. But the main story is that full-time French workers work shorter weeks and take more vacations than full-time American workers.

The point is that to the extent that the French have less income than we do, it's mainly a matter of choice....

...American conservatives despise European welfare states like France. Yet many of them stress the importance of "family values." And whatever else you may say about French economic policies, they seem extremely supportive of the family as an institution. Senator Rick Santorum, are you reading this?