France’s and Italy’s shortcomings are now having a considerable economic cost

France’s and Italy’s social and political problems can be explained, inter alia , by deindustrialisation, the resulting disappearance of relatively skilled and well-paid jobs and the resulting rise in local unemployment. Today, the world is becoming a service economy and global demand for industrial products is weakening. This is giving rise to strong competition between countries to retain industry, but neither France nor Italy can withstand this competition due to disadvantages that afflict both countries: Low labour force skills; High labour costs given the level of product sophistication and the low degree of corporate modernisation. Deindustrialisation there fore continues in France and Italy, with its political and social effects.