French Labor-Law Update

Two correspondents in France have provided me information vital to understanding what is happening in France with the change in the labor laws. My friend the liberal economist Pierre Garello says, contrary to my previous belief, that the French government does not impose a single standard labor contract on everyone. The recently enacted CPE is one among many options. "This does not mean, however, that there is a total freedom of contract," he writes. The state still manages labor relations, even if in this instance it sought to introduce some flexibility with respect to younger workers.

The press reported that France President Jacques Chirac signed the law while promising to "moderate" it to placate the protesting students and union activists. But Anthony de Jasay tells me that in fact Chirac gutted the law before signing it. Things are thus back to where they were before the the ruckus started. See de Jasay's article at The Foundation for Economic Education.