Is it possible to increase wages in France?

Public opinion in France is demand ing increased purchasing power, not only in the form of a reduction in the tax burden, but also in the form of increased wages. Is it possible to increase wages in France ? The answer is unfortunately no , since in France : Real wages have increased faster than labour productivity, and companies’ earnings are insufficient to finance their investments: there has not been (unlike in other OECD countries) any distortion of income distribution at the expense of employees; Labour costs are high given the level of product sophistication, and France is already losing major market share, and given the level of domestic production, which is unable to meet demand; The minimum wage is high relative to the median wage, and a sharp increase in low wages would increase low-skilled unemployment even further. The only way to increase wages sharply in France without markedly worsening the economy would be a parallel, sharp increase in labour productivity combined with an effort to move up the value chain and to improve employee skills, but this cannot be done in the short term.