The economic situation in France continues to deteriorate as a
severe crisis grips the country. Figures released by the French
Labor Ministry on Friday show that unemployment rose by 1.3
percent in August to 3.085 million people. This amounts to almost
13 percent of the French workforce. There are an additional 44,000
workers who are "temporarily off the unemployment roles taking
courses." The number of people officially registered as unemployed
for a year or more also showed an increase in August of 2.8
percent, reaching a total of 1.046 million workers or 34.3 percent
of all those registered as unemployed. There are reports of
thousands more "permanently unemployed" who are not even registered
and do not appear in the statistics.
Another indication of the economic crisis is that consumption
is down in France resulting in a continuing trade surplus for the
second year in a row as the French economy exported in the month of
July alone, US$2.14 billion more than it imported. In spite of the
numerous anti-social measures taken by the French government to cut
social spending the national deficit has not been reduced at all,
adding to the national debt and increasing the cost of servicing
it. French Labor Minister Jacques Barrot said that he held "real
fears" that "general pessimism" has spread throughout the economy
but stated that the government was determined to continue its
anti-social offensive of reduced social spending, layoffs in the
public sector and high taxation.
The monopoly capitalists throughout the world, faced with the
interminable economic crisis of capitalism, are putting an onerous
burden on the working class and other working people in order to
keep profits at the highest level possible. Instead of allowing
society to move to its next stage, where private property becomes
social and the aim of the economy becomes the wellbeing of the
people instead of capitalist profit, the monopoly capitalists are
obdurately using all the means at their disposal to stop the
working class from leading the people and society to progress and
a new society. The financial oligarchy in the most self-serving
manner would rather have society and the working class suffer
forever the economic crisis of capitalism than allow the economic
system to change to a higher socialized stage that is in harmony
with the large-scale social means of production.
Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
