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Paris<\/i>, France\u00a0<\/i>– Traveling to France these days seems like a trip back in time \u2013 or a trip into America\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
It starts aboard antiquated Air France which does not offer in-flight WiFi \u2013 a staple service aboard American airlines these days. But that is trivial compared to the economy that awaits on the other side of the Atlantic. Paris is as charming as ever, rooted in the capital city\u2019s stunning King Louis palaces, Napoleonic columns, sprawling art museums, and wide boulevards.<\/p>\n
But the economy beyond this government opulence is mired in backward market socialism \u2013 burdened by immobile, unionized workforces, stifling regulations, and crushing debt. Unemployment is stubbornly high \u2013 10.6 percent and climbing as France is mired in yet another recession \u2013 despite years of stimulus spending. Per capita income is 70 percent of the U.S. The only thing the country has to show for its decades-long spending spree is 90-percent-of-GDP debt and Moody\u2019s stripping the country of its AAA credit rating.<\/p>\n
Sound familiar? It\u2019s Barack Obama\u2019s economic model.<\/p>\n
Naturally, France\u2019s socialist government is blaming all this on the rich and flogging a 75 percent top tax rate on the wealthy. It\u2019s right out of the Obama playbook \u2013 and just as empty in effect. Its politics are also wearing thin.<\/p>\n