The watchwords of the American and French revolutions were liberty, equality and, for the French, fraternity. Redefining fraternity as traditional community values, I see today’s conservative and liberals attempting to balance these three principles.
America’s conservatives focus on traditional values and economic liberty, whereas liberals place greater weight on equality and personal liberty, especially regarding private interactions. Libertarians agree with liberals on the latter, but they champion unfettered economic liberty at the expense of equality and community. Welfare liberalism and social democracy, with their strong emphasis on equal opportunity, stand in stark contrast to libertarianism.
Libertarians believe that countries with high taxation, government regulation of the economy and comprehensive social programs should be failures. The facts, however, indicate these nations are prospering with much better social and health outcomes. In 2023 the Visual Capitalist found that of the top 20 countries ranked for economic competitiveness, 10 were European welfare states.
I just returned from a three-week trip to France, and, according to libertarians, this nation should be an economic basket case. The French government spends huge amounts supporting both businesses and social programs. For example, 60% of young children are in government sponsored day care, which contrasts with the U.S. where, in 2022, parents paid on average $5,357 annually for one child and $17,171 for one infant.
French businesses are thriving with 60 ranking in the global 100 defined by market capitalization. Pfizer and Morgan Stanley have doubled their investment in the country. France also leads the U.S. and four European nations with five times more patent applications.
France’s marginal tax rate is 45% while the Americans pay 37%. Austrian rates are higher (55%) followed by Denmark (53%) and Sweden (52%). Calculated as a share of Gross Domestic Product, however, France’s personal tax collection is second only to Denmark.
I submit that the French and other Europeans get more for their money in social benefit return. (For example, Danes pay on average only $600 per month for skilled nursing care.) One could argue, as Irwin Garfinkel and Timothy Smeeding have, that welfare states “complement capitalism and enrich nations.” See bit.ly/3Kwpf9Y.
This “enrichment” is not greater wealth because, as a measure of Gross Domestic Product, the U.S. is two to three times richer. Obviously, Garfield and Smeeding mean quality of life: such as personal security, better health and much more leisure.
The French have five weeks of paid vacation, while, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American worker in private industry receives 10 paid vacation days after one year of service. Furthermore, according to Pew Research, 46% of Americans do not take the paid leave allotted to them.
Single payer and other government subsidized systems provide medical coverage at sometimes half the cost and produce health results better than in the U.S. France spends $12 for every $17 the U.S. does. The World Health Organization has concluded that France has the best health care program in the world.
The French live five years longer than Americans; more French infants survive birth; three times more American mothers than their French sisters die within 42 days of giving birth; there are nearly three times as many obese Americans as there are French. Finally, American health care has twice as many avoidable deaths as does the French system.
At the risk of wonking out completely, here are more significant facts. The U.S. poverty rate is 15%, but France’s is 8%; the U.S. incarcerates 12 time more of its citizens; the U.S. homicide rate is five times that of France; and Americans are 30 times more likely to die of a gunshot.
France leads the world in nuclear energy technology and its 56 reactors provide 68% of its power. In 2011, an explosion killed one person at a nuclear waste treatment site in southern France. The only serious plant accident happened in 1980, when at the Saint-Laurent nuclear facility, two fuel rods melted, but the damage was contained.
If one includes solar and wind power, France produces 90% of its electricity from non-carbon sources. This nation will soon become the largest manufacturer of huge storage batteries for excess wind and solar energy.
Contrary to all other countries, the French high-speed rail system makes a profit. Already in 2007, as an example of French engineering prowess, one of their trains set a world record of 357 mph. Safety concerns limit top speeds to 200 mph on principal lines such as the Lyon to Paris route that I enjoyed.
Gier is professor emeritus at the University of Idaho. For more reading see nfgier.com/2020-the-year-libertarianism-finally-died. Email him at ngier006@gmail.com.
