Dear France. Hmmm. Your economy is in the toilet. Your culture is becoming a comedy, at least while it lasts. Then you will be, in a generation or two, a bunch of silly fools run by Muslum and Muslum stooges. Yes, of course elect a woman, you have had women for leaders anyway for the last 40 years. There are no men left with a voice in France. So you beg the rest of Europe to give you some kind of strength. But now, even Europe understands that you are all women and immigrants. Sad. You were once a great country... but that was 150 years ago...... You look down your long and increasingly old noses at America and hope for her failure. Your own failure is not improved or lessened by anothers. You are sad and pathetic..

T.Hansen, Irvine, CA, USA

So easy to say that French is a communist system !! Can you understand the difference between a public system who has got a deep history after the second world war and an ideology ? Why so many british are coming in France for having health operation ? It's so easy to neglect the needs of a population...

lionel, Chambéry, France

I would say that i heard about some UK people comming in france to spend their old day's, comming in france to be well folowed not only for their money in case of bad diseases. hum france needs to go forward with europe, and say that we are still their ! we want a social europe and not a playground for outrageous capitalism . What we need for that ... we would first need a full agrement of you UK people . Stop playing your double sided games,
What is the result of Bush and Blair's lies on IRAQ ? hundred thousand of civilian death. Both guy's are better than sadam himself .... that's the result ...

I go for segolene because i think it would be great to see hilary as well in the USA . Angela Segolene Hilary ... it sounds good to me less testosterone in the managing area .

xavier, paris, FRANCE

I am a Britton with two t, meaning I am French while not always in line with Frenche views.
just this:
US 2004 55%
UK 2005: 61%
France 2007 nearly: 85%

That 's all.

Claude, Milan, Italy

So where is this "stylish, efficient airport"? I use Charles de Gaulle and it is the usual French, organisational coq up!

geoff, swallow, UK

There is an important difference between Britons living in France and French people living in the UK: the former have gone to France esentially to spend their money, the latter come over to earn it.

Alex Burmester, Oporto, Portugal

I am a french citizen living in the uk for many years and as I arrived in south Kensington to vote I was reminded of the stupidity of my fellow frogs. In the whole of London there was only one place for all the French living here to vote, resulting in such massive queus that I could not vote as i had to go to work at some point ! I will try again at five but this is ridiculous !! It was worth filming...

Lynda, London, UK

It is very comforting to know that the UK is home to so many experts on France, the French and their collective shortcomings.
If only a few British poliiticians would ask British residents in France why they are here.
They would learn what life is like here at ground level and how the existence of good manners and helpful people are the most obvious examples of the enjoyment of "la belle vie". Yes there is beurocracy but at least the local mayor gets things done and nobody says "That's not my job"

Colin Macpherson, Gramat, France

France needs to get a grip. Great trains? When conductors aren't on strike. Great healthcare? It depends where, all benefits are shrinking, like retirement. And let's not forget about the 10,000 + elderly folks who died in a heatwave, mostly because doctors were off that month. Great motorways: at that price, they should be paved with gold. Great standards of living? Riots, strikes, increasing poverty & crime, rising housing prices, antisemitism, sounds good.Who cares if productivity is higher than elsewhere, taxes & unemployment are high, and wages low. The highly educated leave France for China, London, the US. French women may be thin, but they're not the ones shopping in the fanciest designer shops, Middle Eastern Arabs, Japanese and Americans are. The French middle class is looking rather unkempt. I'm French, I've lived in Japan, Australia and the US, but the only place I'd like to live in in Europe is England, France is like a little dog, feisty, vocal but irrelevant.

Nathalie, Boston, MA

Is France a typical example of humans fearing change? It seems to be and even a country with such an economy and such culture can go wrong and think they only need themselves to survive. Political, economical and cultural isolation can only lead to disaster and the sooner the French see it and open their minds, the better for them and the rest of Europe.
By the way, Marek if the French "are doing better than us" in all these things why don't you move there? Brits think that mostr other countries are better off for various reasons but they don't know what is like LIVING in another country. Next thing we hear is that life in China is better because there is so much development now, never mind the fact you might be labelled an "enemy of the republic" for any excuse!
I've said it before in my comments and I'll say it again: If you don't like this country then please move to the country of your liking and stop whinging!

Alex K, Manchester, UK

Ever wondered why French restaurants serve food only at 'proper' meal times even in tourist resorts full of baffled and hungry foreigners? Ever wondered why France lacks creative spark, and the French seem to think their traditional way of doing things is the only way? Having lived in France for 3 years I'd say the core reason for this is that most French people never leave France, even on holiday: France is only Europe's no.1 tourist destination because of all the 'internal' tourism. The result is a society like Britain in the 50's: full of people to whom it doesn't occur that the way of life should change, because it's the only one they've ever seen.
It will take enormous courage for the French to vote for Sarkozy, knowing he plans to take away some of the cosy lifestyle they know they can barely afford. It will take even more courage for Sarkozy to stand up to the inevitable massive protests on the streets of Paris at every single reform he tries. Will it happen? - I'm not sure.

Graeme Bell, Dinan, France

I think that what so many fail to realise when they praise the 'wonderful' French lifestyle is the cost at which it comes and the fact that this only applies to the wealthier expats and a small number of French people, who are paying heavily for it.
France is primarily a nation of uncultured peasants, and relies on an agricultural economy.
The statistics about it being the 'world's most visited tourist destination' are crap - almost everyone who sets foot on French soil for any reason is a 'tourist'.
France's 'socialism' is strangling the country by discouraging free enterprise with high taxes, barriers to business, horrendous bureaucracy, and lack of policing of illegal immigration.
It needs a massive kickstart. Maybe Sarkozy is far right enough to do it - I doubt it. Le Pen or someone of his inclination would be the better man, for a start he would take France out of the EU so that it could rot alone without infecting its neighbours.

M PRESTON, Weybridge/Cape Town, UK/SA

I have often wondered how much of the growth in the French economy could be down to those foreigners buying property and renovating it. How much tax do we pay them when we go on the shopping frenzy at Calais? I reckoned lots of billions. Then there is trade policy. We Brits could make a living in the world selling reactors to Sadam or arming our neighbours enemies with exocets. I live in the provinces here, where quality of life is actually quite good - for employed middle class people. Perhaps the France you see - and I love that France - is the for show side. I have been told by one girl living over here that we don't hear about the murders, the rapes and the crime that keep people off the streets at night outside central Paris. And from visits over the years to both London and Paris I know that you can "feel" the wealth in London and the decay in Paris. I am no great fan of the UK, but France is a utopian model. Without radical change it is doomed.

David Bell, LARKHALL, UK

I am an English business man and have lived in France for 6 years - came back to the UK 3 years ago and I've had enough - I'm going back to France for good.

I put down on a list all the important things I wanted my family to have now and long after I'm gone: good education, not an exam factory, - debt free - a chance to buy a home without taking on even more crippling debt - the option of traveling to work on a train or in my car without long delays our outrageous fares; a country that has enough identity and self-belief to make it's own mind-up rather than abdicating it's responsibilities to the USA; to shop in supermarkets with good quality food at a fair price; to live and work with people who are educated, articulate and know how to colaborate as adults - not the "yeah but, no but.." "Am I Bovvered?" sad excuse for conversation that seems to have taken over the UK.

James, Marlborough, UK

But hasnt the american model (even the west's) been brought about thru the exploitation of other nations, thru unfair trading practices and other schemes. Fair trading, the rise of other economic powers, and competition for scarce resources has now put the shoe on the other foot. The west's decline is simply due to the increasing power of "lesser" nations. Countires like brazil india china japan russia indonesia are learning how to play the power game and can no longer be locked out. Over the next 100 years we in the west are going to decline both in influence and economic power. How we manage that assault on our psyches and national identity is what will define us for the foreseeable future.
cost of mars mission 500billion dlrs. cost of iraq war 500billion dlrs.

Ron Baker, london , UK

We are funny creatures - we want the American standard of living as enjoyed by those in good jobs, and at the same time we crave the quality of life that the French strive so beautifully maintain. Yet in both countries there is a growing underclass of poor uneducated, unemployed people whose horizons are limited to their immediate and often squallid environments and who wonder where they have gone wrong. In America they are largely left to fend for themselves, and they abstain from voting. In France they rely on soical services, and might vote, but in practice neither derive much hope from their circumstances.

John, Brussels,

Take away the City, and what is left of the UK economy ?

NOT VERY MUCH !

dave, normandy,

I am an Anglo saxon who has lived and worked in france for over twenty years.
As a businessman i have had to balance the appaling unfairness of a system that taxes businesses almost to the point of extinction to pay for the largesse of a quasi communist state with the unequalled quality of life that France offers it's citizens.
This is a country where politeness remains endemic, famillies eat together, adolescents do not gorge themselves on fast food and alcohol producing obese morons such as i encounter on the high streets of the UK.
Education is of the highest quality. The health service is the best in the world .. by far. The motorways are fast and uncluttered, the trains are effecient and cheap. People in general can afford to buy the house they live in without crippling mortgages. The countryside is sublime and the wine of course needs no adjectives.
Quantity of life does not always equal quality and i have made my choice and put my roots in France

andy, Lyon, France

Socialism is death by a thousand cuts. Usually lasts about 2 -3 generations depending upon the wealth of the nation it has infected. The bottom line is ....you can only buy votes so long before the bills come due

r. burns, Tampa,

Re: the comment from "Donna" on the American middle class: I am firmly of that class, and while recognizing my nation's fallibility, know for certain that the American economic model "works." A far-leftist anywhere in the world cannot admit any model "works" as long as there is a heirarchy to it. Well, get over it--heirarchies are human nature. The bottom line is that for all its imperfections, the American model provides more wealth, security, and opportunity for the greatest number of people than any system in history. That our most popular films are not sombre evocations of JP Sartre's ruminations is something France and the world's left will just have to get over. And as for the French "exception," they can continue to cling to it as they are "excepted" off the world stage--which will surely mean the death of the the "vie belle" at some point soon. But I am sure that somehow, raging unemployment, immigrant unrest, and a feckless foreign policy will continue to be Bush's fault.

sven, New York City,

Ask the American middle class if the Anglo Saxon model works? You speak of universities, movies and TV, how shallow. But many Americans work more than one job, often 2-3 trying to make ends meet. Many workers fear taking a vacation. What movies are you watching to get you take on the USA. It amuses me, Real incomes have dropped consistently, foreclosures on homes at a record high. The USA is stuck in a war that is sapping billions of dollar a month as the deficit climbs to record levels. Ending on a fat note, obesity is epidemic which is linked to every known chronic disease that shortens life. So perhaps I missing something as people trash France or any other country trying to figure out it's future as I'm not sure what America is being discussed. The real America or WallStreet's America? And I am a rich, highly educated (from the best schools) flag waving American. Me thinks that the author is a bit Hormer Simpsonish.

Donna, Chevy Chase, MD

If Sarkozy were to become president, as I hope he will (I voted for him), it will mean that he has a chance to nudge France onto the right path. No French president could hope to do more than that, the society is far too much in the grasp of the labor unions and public service unions to ever allow for radical change. However, if either of his main rivals should win, the fate of France would be sealed. That is to say, continued, perhaps accelerated decline well past the point of no return. It will be very interesting indeed to see if Sarkozy, a very intelligent man and a wily politician, will be able to avoid major labor disruptions in his first term as president.

Keith, Ottawa, Canada

Yes, culturally there are good things that come out of America but why do we even bother to talk to this barbaric US administration that continues to support the death penalty and is so afraid of its own gun lobby that they can't change the law? It all boils down to money. France has problems but by changing them it must not take on the problems of America and Britain. There must be another way. In the words of the French TV soap opera, "La vie est belle" in France. There must be a way in this global rat race to preserve the French exception.

Rosie Whitmore, Labastide Esparbairenque, France

So are you implying that Britain and America are growing catastrophes? I think I prefer the vegetating version. If you look at the main presidential candidates, a Hungarian immigrant, a woman, and a Pyrenean farmer, you could draw the reasonable conclusion that France wasn’t too concerned about the future, or that the Presidency has become a mainly political appointment.

Henry Percy, London, UK

Interesting comments all. I note only that life in the US is mistypified in the debate. It is quite possible to have a gentle and relaxed lifestyle with many amenities and little hustle-bustle here - you only have to choose it. We do not all eat fast food, work 60 hours a week and never take vacations. The lower population densities and higher per capita GDP enable many of us to live quite well, especially in the 'fly-over' areas (the center of the country).

Stephe Herdina, Fort Thomas, Kentucky

I see that some think we"re better off... and here, I hear so much complaining. Well, i won't complain, i'm qute well personally but I confess that the choice of candidates for tomorrow is very frustrating.
But France's way of doing is partiular, our mentality can't be compared with UK's or USA's; finally it is possible to keep well though not in the same way at all. Let's stay optimistic, everyone (not only in France).

mathine, Soissons, France

Well, everybody wants a better quality of life and French are no different. But how will France fund that with soaring debt and uncompetetive workers ?

People just seems to think they can have a better life without need for progress, which is not possible because good life has to be bought in modern world.

Ash, guildford, UK

Please remeber the terrible conditions that the vast majority of the British public have to endure in this so called liberal culture. For the politicians and those with wealth the neo-liberal economies are probably wonderful. For the poor they are horrendous places to live.

France does appeaar to have the social equlaity that is needed even if this means the wealthier have to pay more which they can well afford to do.

Christoff, Ipswich, Siffolk

France is so inalienably French is UK is so inalienably Brit.
Sego is not so different from Sarko, because the Fench are changing. Anyway, De Gaulle in 1942 was not so winner like in 1945. French are great players. Chapeau!

piero, turin, italy

We also came for the lovely language and culture, fantastic food, wonderful climate (in the south), well -behaved society, but as economists and business people we could see very quickly it was a false idyll because the foundations are crumbling. Whilst we are thoroughly enjoying it & even sometimes joke that the government and the French people should do all to preserve their way of living, we know that there is a strong dual economy -those who have and those who never will no matter what they do. It is not a sustainble situation and that is why there is so much uncertaintly and why the new group of politicians are (mainly) of the younger generation. The French know they have to change to survive, that state hand-outs cannot last forever, but they are scared to do so. Because much of what they consider their rights now, with change might mean they will have to be earned. They can decide to embrace change and have a hand in directing it or play ostrich and suffer the consequences.

Claire, Provence,

WIthout a higher native birthrate it won't matter economic model France follows.

Jeffrey, Brooklyn, USA

"Think of our own NHS: a Stalinist bureaucracy promising everyone everything free, which many politicians and professionals know can .never work, but which popular sentiment makes untouchable"

Surely a misleading statement. The NHS is certainly not providing and promising a free service. What are social security payments and national health contributions being used for if this were to be the case? The NHS costs the public a great deal of money.

Robert Nixon, Virginia Beach, VA

Attali's article plays with statistics:

Productivity is higher in France because businesses hire invest in machinery in order to hire as few people as possible.

The British buy vacation houses in northern France because the prices are lower and the weather is better.

Neither of these instances points to a superior French model.

Vic, paris,

Ironically, the British want to be more like the French as the 21st century on this congested little island is not to our liking. And the French want an economy like the British. It just goes to show the grass is always greener on the otherside of the fence.

JG, London, England

Well, every country has its own problems doesn't it? France is no different, and neither is the UK, the US, Australia or any of the other countries mentioned here on this forum.
If there are politicians willing to tackle those problems head on, well good for them! Let's not dismiss them before they even have a chance.

Deborah, London,

Sarkozy may win, but many french people are scared about him, even some journalist. Wherever he goes, maybe 30 or 60 policems are with him; he has trouble to go in suburbain. the other candidat has not so many policemen with them, but tey are without flavor and without program
So what ll happen??

romain, Melun, France

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose (and apologies for not being able to put the accents in on my PC). I adore France as a cultural and social entity - as a political entity it baffles me. They have had 3 or 4 revolutions and are on their 5th republic, yet the French still preserve the monolithic state structure, bureaucracy and stifling legislative mindset of Louis XIV. It is part of their national psyche, and what makes French politics such predictable fun. I can only say that whoever wins will be frustrated at every turn by the technocrats, but that the French have had centuries' experience of getting round all this claptrap and I have no doubt they will continue to enchant and exasperate us in equal measure for many centuries to come. Meanwhile, the cafe scene in London has wondefully improved by their flight to these anglo-saxon shores...

Eve, London,

my limited recent contact with France, at CDG airport as I waited to catch a connecting flight, was positive. I saw much of what a first-rate country should exhibit. Qaulity was evident in products, services, and people. My concern: can this way of life be maintained? Can an essentially secular way of life stand up to (and change) a way of life that is non-secular, certain, and absolute? Time will tell. I truly hope the City of Light is still radiating light fifty years from now, but I have my doubts.

James, Jacksonville, Illinois U. S.

If progress means a sandwich at your desk or fast-food outlets - instead of a proper lunch, then I say "Forget it".
I came to France to slow down; to leave gridlocked roads; to be able to enjoy my lunch in agreeable surroundings; to see a culture that has resisted the thrusting USA and the sermonising of pious, well meaning sandals & beards.
As I sit in the square, here in Nerac, sipping a glass of rose wine, and watch the local market; listen to the chatter as people embrace and talk to one another,I reflect on commuter trains; buses stuck in traffic jams in Dublin; stupid politicians mouthing inanities; moral degenerates & intellectual pygmies.
No thank you.
La Belle France has it all and I hope they never capitulate to the false prophets of "progress".

MYLES STANISTREET, CAZENEUVE, FRANCE 32

The standard lazy analysis of France is that is economy is "on the rocks; the evidence for this is that France's growth rate recently has been around 2% as opposed to Britain's 3%. It never seems to occur to anyone to question whether slower economic growth might actually be a choice - that less material possesions that we don't actually need might be a reasonable trade off for a saner life.

In France people work less (but are more productive), they feel inspired to have more children, eat better quality food, enjoy vastly superiour health care, and enjoy generally a much more agreable public realm. French people on the whole do not have a great appetite for a work obssessed culture where there is no time for families, and you eat lunch at your desk.

Of course there are reforms that could be usefully made, as in any economy, but the idea that France needs to follow the UK's shinning example of happy slapping, MRSI, deadly trains and turkey twizzlers is laughable.

Nick, Ste Maxime, Frabce

My view is that France, for the first time in her History, is suffering from an inferiority complex: She is become a second rate power; her culture and language dont have any more the universality of the Anglo-Saxon ones; her social model is not working as well as before and her industry is becoming uncompetitive. When all this is combined with a strong conservatism and a structurally antiquated operating system, it becomes a recepy for disaster.
The forthcoming Presidential Election probably will not serve as the catharsis of a Nation struggling to recover her lost glories, but rather as an entrenchment of several disruptive forces. The best person may well win, but what afterwards?

Robert Collu, Quartu , Italy

Living in France, I do not see much happiness amongst the youth. But the trains are generally good.
I find that most people who do not live here in France have a tourist's (you know, the annoying kind of person who thinks she knows France because she studied French in school and once climbed the Eiffel Tower), romantasiced ideal about what France is, but when you live it every day, you realise that there is a strong malaise sweeping the country.
I commend the French for trying to balance the need for economic growth and a desire to maintin cultural traditions as part of daily life. But there are far too many (French and foreigner) who take the easy option and say they can't have both. I disagree. They can have both, but they must come up with a new way of realising them.

john, france,

As far as I can see, the NHS does work. At least, it works as well as healthcare in any of the other western countries, and is substantially cheaper than many. All have their problems, of course, but absent the fantasies of would-be privatisers it provides most people with a decent standard of healthcare at a competitive cost, and it keeps the cost of private treatment down because people can always wait and save the money. Like democracy, it looks like the least bad solution.

Jamie, Bolton, UK

British people seem to like "this vegetating catastrophe" otherwise why would so many come over to live here permanently. Maybe they are fleeing Starbucks, gang violence and other examples of American imperialism which are rapidly invading the United Kingdom. If Nicolas Sarkozy does win I hope he will protect us from them.

Julie Alix, St Germain en laye, France

A year and half ago I was surprised to find that the cafeteria of Radio France International consisted of five different parts each of which would have put to shame the usual IBM cafeterias in the US at the peak of the company’s prestige in the late nineteen eighties. Two weeks ago, en route to the US, being in Paris felt like being in a delusion – my mention of the inevitable confrontation with Iran was greeted with total incomprehension by friends and family.

Sarkozy is Frances’s last hope, if not Europe’s. But it seems the even he is too little too late. What historian Bat Ye’or and Bernard Lewis have been warning for years is becoming a reality.

Mladen Andrijasevic , Be'er Sheva , Israel

As a mixed couple, French/American, we've spent 30 years living in France. We've complained constantly - about high taxes, extremely centralized government meddling in our lives, obstacles to businesses, education designed to make everyone fit in a mold, etc. etc. - both our children have decided to live elsewhere. As retirement approaches, we can see that life in France is good for the unemployed, the already-employed with no desire to change, people with health problems, civil servants, and - fortunately for us - those close to retirement. I wonder if this "assisted" life is too much of a danger in the long term.

Alan Denisot, Lyon, France

View from the USA..."There will always be an England!".....no longer is true......she has been diluted by excess immigration. While France is still the most civilized country in the world, she faces the same risk. If I were French, my vote would be for protectionism. Quality of life is more important than economic excess.

dennis h, Stockholm, Wi. USA

I bet more french people go to the polls ,than Brits in our next elections and have a better understanding off politics than many people in the UK we preach all the time.
the french are a proud nation and wish to remain so why don't we take a leaf out off their book and try to get some off our greatness back viva la France good luck.

george william taylor, hull, uk

As a destination of choice for many emigrants from the UK, the lifestyle balance and cultural heritage of France is clearly superior that in many other places. Perhaps they might want to follow the Swiss example and be sure that newcomers can integrate before welcoming all.

Change for the sake of it should always be questioned.

Perhaps fixing things that are not broken is the middle option.

dr venables preller, Warminster, UK

Anne Robert is correct to point to aspects of France that are superb -- but these are mostly subsidised by the state! and without the subsidies they could not exist. The subsidies cannot continue because France's debt is growing and is unsupportable. Radical change is required. The whole nation knows this and the Presidential campaign has underlined it. Let us hope the French elect a President who is capable of delivering.

Mike, Chichester, England

For me, the most interesting characteristich of M Sarkozy is his love for America. It means that, together with other pro-US nations such as the Netherlands and Poland, as well as with a renewed Atlanticist German government, the EU will finally be able to reform in a manner satisfying to most of its member states (including Britain). If this happens, the EU might finally play a role of significance in international politics as part of a renewed and unified West.

This Gaullist nonsense of Chirac has got to go and I, for one, don't fancy Mme Royal's attitude on this one.

Erik, The Hague, Netherlands

I have negotiated business all over the world but never struck a deal in France which I have visited with joy for over 50 years. I think Walden's view is skewed. He clearly believes that the current Anglo Saxon economic model is the answer. I have news for you George. We are all in trouble and when it hits France will survive better than the rest of us because of what it is and how it works.
The Anglo-Saxon model, consume consume consume capitalism, is a short term game and the inherent French quality of life is entrenched. Anyone in England who thinks they are living better that the French hasn't a clue about living life at which the French are masters.

John Albert , Lisbon, Portugal

Marek is quite right to say the French have a better health service, as do a lot of other European countries. The question is, would he, and many others be prepared to pay for it as the French do - a combination of taxes and private health insurance which costs more than it does here. It certainly results ina better service with more choice as an element of it gives you that freedom, and I would be all for it. But how many who beleive our NHS is "free" and there for every little trivial thing would want to do the same? As for the general French way of life, if they weren't featherbedded by subsidies from more thrusting economies like ours and the German then their whole system would collapse.

Dave Proctor, Leeds, UK

France isn't just going to disappear but it will become increasingly grotty and uncompetitive, this slow demise can carry on for decades yet.
History indicates that the French respond to a perceived malaise in their society by revolutionary change. At the moment there doesn't appear to be a will to destabilize the status-quo therefore the answer to the question 'What could Mr Sarkozy do on immigration?' is very little.
In fact all of the candidates are doomed to tinker around the edges because incremental just change doesn't work in France.
A word of caution though, revolutionary change isn't just a product of the left. Socialist and ineffectual France - huffing and puffing it's way to decrepitude - is at worst an inconvenience but a far right France could cause seismic rift in societies throughout Europe.

Martin, nottingham, notts

Your analysis of " la difference française" of course is correct. I would go even further on the alarm scale and say that France 's economy today ressembles more a financial cesspool and although immigration is high on the agenda of many candidats it is a false issue because job creation is the real problem.France desperately needs a leader who will be to inject some dynamic into its economy and I too would like to see how all these politicians who eat at the same "table" in the canteen and who are all from the same "élite schools " that you refered to (bar a few) are going to do that .

J BEE , Cannes , France

Many of my French friends despair for their children's future and are going to vote, albeit unenthusiastically, for Sarkozy as the only viable choice to ensure brighter prospects.

Of course, if elected, it remains to be seen whether he will be allowed to govern and implement his reforms.

John, Paris,

I have some sympathy for the French, but their achievements are artificial, imposed by the state and paid for with high levels of debt. Any country can have pretty trains if they are willing to pass the cost on to their children and grand-children.

The real problem with France s that phrase "Communism that works". What the really means is a modern form of Colbertism; the idea that government is too complicated for the little man, and so he can vote, but all the big decisions are taken by "experts". This is also the model the French have imposed on the EU.

Colbertism works when it works, but in the long run it leads to high taxation - 51% anyone? - and it saps the initiative of entrepreneurs, who are now leaving in large numbers. Migration shows what people think, and at the moment educated Frenchmen are leaving just as economic refugees are flooding in. That's a good way to keep the population stable, but not to grow an economy.

jon livesey, Sunnyvale, CA/US

Marek, do you think the French are doing better? Perhaps if they are white and middle-aged, otherwise...

Abdou, Paris, France

Why don't the MP's and the public of all countries face up to the fact that Copulation = Population. There are too many people living in confined spaces such as Greater London, with the result that many areas become run down ghettos. I have recently returned from Paris only to find that it has become dirty and tawdry. Again too many people with little money and not contibuting to the environment. Wake up everyone,before it is too late, do we want Europe to mirror the slums of the third world ?

David Smith, Monte Carlo, Monaco

OK ok ok You may be right on many points ..
But wrong in your assessment or ...labelling .
I am no expert and no Enarque but I live in both and suggest your analysis is conventional - a la mode - the reality is perhaps that there are are two France's :
You make a gross generalisation :'The French are not only financially but also philosophically opposed to changes they believe would impoverish France humanly and culturally'

Is it not more acurate that precisely what is causing friction is that there are FRANCE S ...

The dynamic open France: the competitive talents ( aka the CAC 40 companies) and on the other side the France you perhaps describe in an accurate way ... Only one is blocked and certainly not the other: look at how France has changed culturally in the last 20 yrs . Look at how its companies have opened and won on the international front . Look at how it is leading in key sectors( trains, broadband...) Look at the international openess of the students ?????

Anne Robert, London, UK

To those of us in other parts of the world, France seems antiquated and almost obslolete, a symbol for old Europe. The exciting countries these days are the USA and China and in SE and E Asia, for economic dynamism, and sheer cultural and social energy. Increasingly, France will become irrelevant, because it lacks the will to change and provide any leadership to the world.

Rodney Sheaves, Sydney, Australia

I note Marek's comment with interest. While his points seem reasonable it is hard to see how a country that disincentivises business by burdening it with restrictions when the rest of the world makes the competition more intense is on the right track. While we all love many aspects of France and its seemingly idyllic lifestyle, failing to be able to generate the wealth to sustain it hardly seems to be a sustainable way forward. The 0.5m French people who live and work in London know this as do, I suspect, much of the French population. While I'm sure the French take pride in their showcase projects, such as the high speed trains, I doubt if the same satisfaction extends to the crippling taxes and regulation which hold them back. Any competitiveness the French have is fast being eroded and the happiness which Marek refers to will not endure in the increasing levels of poverty and falling standards that lost competitiveness will bring.

Jonathan, Huntsville, Alabama

i don't know. sounds rather spot on to me.

but, America has it's own problems. the developing Hillary -Dean pact makes us wonder: what plays the role of Poland?

James, Kingston,

This is really terrible tripe. You should be ashamed of yourself.

The French are doing better than us in terms of their childrens' happiness, a higher standard of living, much better trains and health service and a truly independent nuclear deterrent.

Intelligent people despair when they read this nonsense.

Marek, London,

An over-simplifying diatribe rich with sweeping generalisation. France is far from being perfect but remains a much better country to live in than the UK as evident by the thousands of UK citizens who move to it permanently. In contrast, young French persons move to the UK only on a temporary basis compromising better quality of life for an easier kick-start of careers. UK has a better labour market, but France has a superior quality of life.

George Redhead, London, UK