The misinformation of the French about the economy must be stopped

Recent debates between politicians and trade unionists on the economic policies to be conducted in France have been an opportunity to hear a large number of obvious untruths : it is not by misinforming the French on the economy that a relevant debate on economic policies will be launched . Let us give a few examples of these objections (the list is not exhaustive): A switch to a points-based pension system inevitably leads to a reduction in pensions; in reality, whatever the organisation of the pension system (annuity-based, point-based, funded), what matters is the percentage of GDP that society agrees to devote to the payment of pensions. It is almost 14% today in France, and this amount will be the same with the point-based system; A switch to a funded pension system would ruin the French and condemn them to a small pension. It is exactly the opposite: if the pension system in France had included a funded element, pensions would currently be far higher as the return on funded pensions has been far higher than that on pay-as-you-go pensions over the past 40 years; An increase in the minimum wage would boost demand, employment and therefore social contribution receipts, making it possible to increase the generosity of the social welfare system. However, all studies show a very strong negative effect of an increase in unskilled labour costs on unskilled employment: increasing the minimum wage sharply would destroy jobs and reduce tax revenues; There would be no social justice in France. However, among OECD countries, France is one of those where redistributive policies are largest, where real wages have risen fastest relative to productivity and where the minimum wage is the highest relative to the median wage . To be able to solve France’s real problems (low social mobility, small industry, low labour force skills, slow productivity growth) and debate the economic policies to be implemented, it is necessary to stop misinforming the French about the economic mechanisms or the nature of the problems .