Cheese eating departure monkeys.

[Gob]

The land of 400 cheeses, the birthplace of Molière and Coco Chanel, is facing an unprecedented exodus. Up to 2.5 million French people now live abroad, and more are bidding “au revoir” each year.

A French parliamentary commission of inquiry is due to publish its report on emigration on Tuesday, but Le Figaro reported yesterday that because of a political dispute among its members over the reasons for the exodus, a “counter-report” by the opposition right-wing is to be released as an annex.

Centre-right deputies are convinced that the people who are the “lifeblood” of France are leaving because of “the impression that it’s impossible to succeed”, said Luc Chatel, secretary general of the UMP, who chaired the commission.

There is “an anti-work mentality, absurd fiscal pressure, a lack of promotion prospects, and the burden of debt hanging over future generations,” he told Le Figaro. However, the report’s author Yann Galut, a Socialist deputy, said the UMP was unhappy because it had been unable to prove that a “massive exile” had taken place since the election of President François Hollande in 2012.

What is certain is the steady rise in the number of emigrants across all sections of society, from young people looking for jobs to entrepreneurs to pensioners.

According to a French Foreign Ministry report published at the end of last month, the top five destinations are the UK, Switzerland, the US, Belgium and Germany. The French consulate in London has estimated that up to 400,000 French nationals live in the capital, a number equal to the population of France’s sixth largest city.

The Foreign Ministry recorded 1.6 million expats at the end of last year. But that figure only includes people who had registered at French consulates abroad. “So the real figure is twice as high,” says Hélène Charveriat, the delegate-general of the Union of French Citizens Abroad.

She told The Independent that while the figure of 2.5 million expatriates is “not enormous”, what is more troubling is the increase of about 2 per cent each year.

“Young people feel stuck, and they want interesting jobs. Businessmen say the labour code is complex and they’re taxed even before they start working. Pensioners can also pay less tax abroad,” she says.

France’s unemployment rate is hovering around 10 per cent. As for high-earners, almost 600 people subject to a wealth tax on assets of more than €800,000 (£630,000) left France in 2012, 20 per cent more than the previous year. Manuel Valls, the Prime Minister, announced in London this week that the top income tax rate of 75 per cent would be abolished next January after a number of business tycoons and celebrities moved out.

Mrs Charveriat said the French exiles she had spoken to might agree “a bit” with Andy Street, the managing director of John Lewis who was forced to apologise after saying that France was “finished, sclerotic and downbeat”.

“But people aren’t pessimistic,” she added, stressing that the French who live abroad remain patriotic and that while they engage in “French-bashing” among themselves, they are defensive when foreigners engage in such criticism.

[rubato]

Between 3 and 6 million Americans live abroad.

So what? A meaningless statistic lying there innocently until someone wraps it up in larded ideology to make a point of as little weight as a warm efflatus.


yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

France Population: 66.03 million
UASA population: 316.1 million

"while the figure of 2.5 million expatriates is “not enormous”, what is more troubling is the increase of about 2 per cent each year."

[Lord Jim]

Basic math has never been one of rube's strong points...

Which would seem to be kind of surprising for a guy who claims to be a "scientist"...

A comprehension of basic math would seem to be a minimal requirement for that field of study...

Sort of like the concept of "isolate the variable"...

(Another basic scientific concept that this "scientist" has never seemed to be able to wrap his mind around....)

[rubato]

France Population: 66.03 million
UASA population: 316.1 million

"while the figure of 2.5 million expatriates is “not enormous”, what is more troubling is the increase of about 2 per cent each year."

The number is still small and the point you are attempting to make with it is still, bullshit. 2 percent increase in the absolute number of expats is still nothing.

The reasons that people emigrate from one high-functioning society to another are various. Trying to suggest that a handful of factors chosen to suit some ideological purpose is the important driver is idiotic. Often people are emigrating to something rather than away from something disagreeable.


Your Francophobia is showing. They are better than you are, get over it. Their women are more beautiful, their cheeses more fragrent, their weather is better and they are charming and chic.


Their recovery from the downturn is much better than the UK:



more recent:




yrs,
rubato

[MajGenl.Meade]

Speling is beter to!

Ler ortographe et meux ausi

[Gob]

Rube just doesn't have a clue, does he?

[Gob]

A quiz;

What happens if the number of people emigrating from a country increases by 2% each year?
a) The population stays the same.
b) The population decreases.
c) rubato says something stupid about it.

What happens to a country if the increased departure rate by emigration has a high proportion of productive and wealthy persons and the young.
a) The country gets richer.
b) The country gets poorer in many ways.
c) rubato fails to see the significance.

How is it possible to say that the women of one country are "more beautiful" than those of a nearby one?
a) It isn't, that’s just childish.
b) De gustibus non est disputandum
c) Don't worry, its only rubato showing how stupid he can be.


What happens if someone posts something not entirely positive about France, expecting rubato display his normal inadequacies?
a) rubato display his normal inadequacies
b) rubato display his normal inadequacies, with added graphs.
c) rubato display his normal inadequacies, and throws in some childish taunts
d) a rubato display his normal inadequacies, and throws in childish taunts and graphs.

[Jarlaxle]

[Lord Jim]

Their women are more beautiful, their cheeses more fragrent,

Actually, I think that should be:

"Their cheeses are more beautiful, and their women are more fragrant"...

[wesw]

gob, that was possibly the most well crafted rebuttal I have seen on the internet...

[wesw]

...sorry jim, yours are pretty good too.

[Lord Jim]

Thank you for the compliment wes, but you're doing that one sentence multiple post thing again...

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE USE THE EDIT BUTTON!!!

Or I'm going to wind up:

[wesw]

I m trying to limit myself to two in a row...

[wesw]

... that s the best I can do

[Lord Jim]

... that s the best I can do

No, it isn't....(it's an improvement, but it's not your "best"...)

It's the "edit post" button...right next to the "Delete"....

Once you get into the habit of using it, it will be second nature for you...

I have absolute confidence in your ability to do this...

[Gob]

Britain will overtake France to become the second-biggest economy in Europe behind Germany next year, the International Monetary Fund has said.

It predicts growth of 3.2 per cent in the UK this year and 2.7 per cent in 2015, compared with just 0.4 per cent and 1 per cent in France. The estimates mean output in Britain will total £1.9trillion next year – outstripping the £1.8trillion France is expected to produce. However, the UK still lags behind Germany’s £2.4trillion economy. All smiles: By next year, Britain's economic output is set to top £1.9trillion after growing by 3.2 per cent this year and 2.7 per cent next year, outstripping the £1.8trillion France is expected to produce,

The figures, in the IMF’s World Economic Outlook, will be a boost for George Osborne.

But they are an embarrassment for Labour leader Ed Miliband, who has closely aligned himself with France’s socialist president Francois Hollande. Mr Hollande swept to power in 2012 as an old-fashioned socialist, promising to take on the rich and big business, but is now the least popular French leader on record. The economy remains in a rut – France has been labelled ‘the sick man of Europe’ – and unemployment is 10.5 per cent, compared with 6.2 per cent in Britain.

Chris Williamson, chief economist at research group Markit, said France was being held back by its ‘increasingly bloated public sector’ with government spending among the highest in the world at 57 per cent of total national output. France is the biggest country in the EU, with a population of about 67million – compared with 64million in the UK. In 2009, the French economy was worth £1.7trillion compared with £1.4trillion in the UK, according to IMF figures. But the Fund, whose managing director Christine Lagarde and chief economist Olivier Blanchard are French, is now expecting Britain to stretch ahead.

[Lord Jim]

Britain will overtake France to become the second-biggest economy in Europe behind Germany next year

That's only because of all those hard working foreign people who you hate and want to kick out.

yrs,

rudebato

[MajGenl.Meade]

Like that Malaria girl - probably on national assistance already

[wesw]

I still haven t seen a stinkin delete button. I see edit, report, and quote buttons, no delete

oh now this post has a delete button. my above post does not