A map of the protests by country is here (link is fixed):
There have been very few in the US and very little reporting about them. Here is a story about a demonstration in Paris from a few days ago. The government bypassed Parliament and passed a jobs edict unilaterally. The labor reform, proposed by a desperately unpopular Socialist
government in the face of 10 percent unemployment, allow employers to
unilaterally extend the much-vaunted 35-hour working week, loosens
redundancy conditions, and restricts the power of unions.
I doubt Piketty is very surprised by all of this.
Both of the links seem to be set up to the same page, but from what I did read, it looks like France has some similar issues to the United States right now. The most compelling quote to me was that the aim of these protests was "to move France forward,” and put an end to “political posturing from an obstructionist minority.” Looks like this is a worldwide pandemic.
ReplyDeleteThe article responsible for this action, 49.3, has been used over 80 times since its inception in the 1950s. Just last year it was used to push through an economic recovery plan. It is not an act of true socialism, its just state capitalism. Not surprising at all.
ReplyDeletePiketty he himself says that the economy is becoming more like patrimonial capitalism as the income inequality gets bigger and bigger in the United States. Just like America, France also struggles to close the gap between the wealthy and the poor. Implement of economic policies that favors employers is inevitable in the capitalist society.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/01/france-growing-income-inequality-problem-201512311224855101.html