What a captain of French industry thinks of France today!

[woolybanana]

And it ain't good!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/10093809/France-worse-off-than-UK-in-the-1970s-Axa-chief.html

[idun]

 Really that bad???? And does he know what Blair did to Britain???? From my point of view he refined the 'greed and grabbing' mentality that Thatcher started and still sadly remains to this day in the minds of too many.

[Mr Ceour de Lion II]

With the comparison between Wilson and Blair, I think you would have to take Blair every time. Silly comparison though, and very poor choice (like the last US election candidates).

[idun]

Sadly I would have preferred no choice between either Wilson or Blair, or Thatcher come to think. Blair as far as I can see was no good, up to no good and should be in jail now or at least faced charges for starting an illegal war. That is how I feel about it.

For some strange reason I never minded Tonton Mitterand. I was in France for all of his reign. Was he good for France. Well, prices were very very stable for most of the time he was in power and I quite liked living like that.

[Rabbie]

Both Wilson and Blair came to power after long periods of conservative government. In both cases the conservatives seemed to have run out of ideas and clearly needed a spell in opposition.

As to the disputed legality of the war in Iraq it is worth remembering that it was supported by the Conservative party - a fact now forgotten by many who want to criticise Blair.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Rabbie"]

As to the disputed legality of the war in Iraq it is worth remembering that it was supported by the Conservative party - a fact now forgotten by many who want to criticise Blair.

[/quote]

True but then they, like others, made their decision based on the information Blair gave at the time which we now know was fabricated.

[Mr Ceour de Lion II]

Surely all war is illegal? I've always thought it a bit weird to call the Iraq war illegal, yet no other war gets tarred with the same brush.

[DraytonBoy]

[quote user="Mr Ceour de Lion II"]Surely all war is illegal? I've always thought it a bit weird to call the Iraq war illegal, yet no other war gets tarred with the same brush.

[/quote]

That's a bit simplistic.

Sorry Poland, we did say we'd join in if you got invaded but having consulted our lawyers they think we might be sued so have decided to stay out of it.

Bush and Blair persuaded the UN etc that Saddam had some WMD's (which he did) and therefore he had to be taken out. They used the legitimacy of UN support to invade. IMO Blair was brainwashed by Bush which just shows what a feeble PM he was. I also find it very ironic that he is now an official Middle East peace envoy.

[Clarkkent]

What has the legitimacy of the invasion of Iraq to do with the present state of the French economy?

[idun]

A lot actually CK. Because Blair was cited as someone for Hollande to emulate, whereas I would say that Blair has shown that he completely lacked even a modicum of integrity. If you can think of anything good he and his cohorts did, please let me know as I cannot. I see no virtue in copying Blair.

In fact most of the french people I know who previously had had little time for Black Jack(Pres. Chirac) appreciated his stance over the Iraqi war.

[Quillan]

Meanwhile getting back to the subject Henri de Castries (5th Comte de Castries) is quite revolutionary when one considers his background and who he went to the Grande Ecole Normale de D'Admistration with namely Dominique de Villepin, François Hollande and Ségolène Royal and others back in 1980. Basically he is a bit of a rebel and has deviated from the teachings of the Grande Ecole which is a big thing in France. To my mind this is where the problem lies in France, the Grande Ecoles. The teachers (or professors if you prefer) are still stuck back in pre war times and that is the type of economics they teach and it does not help France especially when nearly all top politicians, civil servants and executives come from these Grande Ecoles.

A saying I have heard in the past is that what makes the French working man/woman so different to the rest is that they "work to live whilst others live to work" and you do sometimes come across this. As a quick example. A few years ago we went to buy two settees. We were in a store talking to the boss about two we liked. I had my cheque book in hand and we are talking about 8k's worth. It was just coming up to 12 O'clock and the chap said that they were closing for lunch and I can come back at two. All I wanted him to do was to confirm the delivery date before I gave him the cheque. Needless to say we walked away with our money and he didn't make a sale and all for the want of five minutes. I am not the only one who has been in this situation either. One could say the French are lazy but I think it is their culture combined with the fact many have little or no business sense. This is why they find it so difficult to compete in the European (and international)  market. They have worked this way for years, that's how they do things and they are not going to change for anyone. So yes in some ways he is right, management has to change first in France then working practices, just caste your mind back to the tyre company and what the American chap wrote about the employees.