SUN SHINES ON FRENCH ECONOMY, 10 DAYS BEFORE VOTE

April 26, 2007 (AFP) - French industrial data and expected unemployment figures brought sunshine to the economy on Thursday 10 days before the final presidential vote, giving ammunition to rightwing candidate Nicolas Sarkozy.

... Asteres economist Nicolas Bouzou described the overall picture painted by the industrial survey as "almost idyllic." [!]

... The statistics institute INSEE said on Thursday that the confidence of French industrialists had risen in April, mainly on production prospects.

The sunshine! Blinding! Blinding sunshine of a monthly industrial survey! So much light! One can hardly make out the perduring problems of low growth, onerous taxation, a ballooning national debt, a record trade deficit, bankrupt pensions, and structural unemployment. Speaking of which...

And Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said he expected the unemployment data to show a further fall in unemployment, a central election issue. Stressing that the data were compiled independently, he said he "imagined that the figures will go in the right direction."

In October Jack vowed to bring unemployment below 8%. As recently as January Dom was predicting 6% unemployment before leaving office. Yes. Well, none of that has worked out. Of course, the French unemployment rate is anyone's guess. Eurostat, the statistical authority for the EU, refused to certify the February unemployment numbers published by INSEE, the statistical bureau for France. Ah, but those are all yesterday headlines. The French government doesn't expect you to remember any of them. And it doesn't expect you to be wasting your time being reminded by reading them here.

When Dom says he imagines "the figures will go in the right direction" he apparently means this literally, that is, the government's unemployment numbers are a product of the government's imagination.

About 40 academics and economists have urged the government not to publish March unemployment data later in the day, alleging that the figures would be "artificially low" and would amount to "manipulation of public opinion" before the vote a week on Sunday.

Oh! [Thoughtful pause.] You think so?

Only in France can the economy be gummed up for 30 years, high unemployment stubbornly persist, and growth strain to reach the zenith of 2% -- only in France can these things be commonplaces for years, decades, and suddenly a week before a presidential election, why everything is "sunshine".

The solution to France's economic woes is obvious. Hold a new presidential election every other week or so.

PFFT (What is this?): Sunshine 1 | Everything doubleplusgood 4 | Rayonnement français 0