France: Is it possible to achieve a large increase in the employment rate without “macroeconomic†reforms?
If France's employment rate were at the level of Germany's, France would no longer have any unemployment, external deficit or fiscal deficit problem. "Qualitative", "regulatory" reforms (reform of the labour market, the education system, vocational training, and unemployment benefits) may have a positive effect on the employment rate, but it may be asked whether they are sufficient to achieve a major increase in the employment rate without "macroeconomic" reforms, such as: A substantial reduction in corporate social contributions; A substantial reduction in the cost of unskilled labour; A sharp increase in the modernisation of corporate capital enabling reindustrialisation. The danger, then, is that "qualitative" reforms alone may have limited effects on the employment rate, and therefore on France's economic performance.