The critic Malcolm Cowley once noted that “the chief advantage of two years in France is to give you a taste for America.” In that spirit, those who are despondent over the state of the political system in the United States might benefit from a look at the slow-motion Eurostar wreck known as French national politics these last couple of years. Compared with those of Paris, Washington’s tribulations can look downright quaint.
These days, it’s rare to see the name of France’s head of state, François Hollande, appear in print unaccompanied by some variation on the phrase “least popular president in modern French history.” Double-digit unemployment has become a new normal, as has sluggish growth, which rose from zero in the first two quarters of this year to 0.3 percent in the third. At the same time, the country’s basket-case finances have prompted a recent credit downgrade by Fitch, while pitting the Hollande government against EU belt-tighteners who are still deciding whether to hold France to euro-zone deficit rules.
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