> Seeing all my fellow french moving to the US, Canada, Argentina, Asia, and after only a few weeks, being so glad to call those places home, and saying they would never go back to France, because anywhere they are, it's so much better.
Of course, but that's probably because your friends are educated middle class / upper middle class people.
I can tell you that most of my lower working class (who are working their asses off for a minimum wage) friends and family are much better off in France than they would be in the US, Canada or Asia.
What's the lesson here? The more money you make, the more incentives you have to move to a country where that money buys you more, or where that money is less taxed. Typically countries where the inequality gap is higher.
> When Sarkozy (right) was governing and the crisis started, he adopted a "cut spendings" policy
He also adopted tax cuts for the richest.
Honestly I don't like Hollande more than anyone else, but Sarkozy's tenure was catastrophic on many points, and the picture you are painting doesn't match reality - or at least, it only matches the reality of people who don't have a large view enough on the different ends of the wealth spectrum. You may be no political analyst, but your message has a strongly political bias.
> Higher taxes (75% for one million revenue), more taxes if your net worth is high (even if no income), to the point that every rich known personality from France (actors, businessmen, etc.) are leaving and getting other nationalities, to not have to pay those taxes, because too high.
FUD and bullshit.
The 75% is for revenues ABOVE 1M, which is very different from 75% on all revenues - in fact, there used to be a higher taxation rate in the 1930s in France, which was set at 90%. After WWII, the USA had similarly high rates (from 91% during WWII to 70% in 1964). Bullshit because only a few high profile personalities are whining (mostly actors and overpaid footballers, cry me a river), most of them well-known friends of the French right wing parties. And also because of the large number of tax exemptions who are mostly applicable to wealthy people (because they require capital to invest into real-estate and companies), their real taxation rate is usually low, even lower than middle class workers. Liliane Bettencourt, the richest woman in France (and a friend of Sarkozy) was revealed a few years ago to have approximately a 9% tax rate. It's a very similar story to Warren Buffet who had a lower tax rate than his secretary.
Of course, but that's probably because your friends are educated middle class / upper middle class people.
I can tell you that most of my lower working class (who are working their asses off for a minimum wage) friends and family are much better off in France than they would be in the US, Canada or Asia.
What's the lesson here? The more money you make, the more incentives you have to move to a country where that money buys you more, or where that money is less taxed. Typically countries where the inequality gap is higher.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Gini_Coef...
> When Sarkozy (right) was governing and the crisis started, he adopted a "cut spendings" policy
He also adopted tax cuts for the richest.
Honestly I don't like Hollande more than anyone else, but Sarkozy's tenure was catastrophic on many points, and the picture you are painting doesn't match reality - or at least, it only matches the reality of people who don't have a large view enough on the different ends of the wealth spectrum. You may be no political analyst, but your message has a strongly political bias.
> Higher taxes (75% for one million revenue), more taxes if your net worth is high (even if no income), to the point that every rich known personality from France (actors, businessmen, etc.) are leaving and getting other nationalities, to not have to pay those taxes, because too high.
FUD and bullshit. The 75% is for revenues ABOVE 1M, which is very different from 75% on all revenues - in fact, there used to be a higher taxation rate in the 1930s in France, which was set at 90%. After WWII, the USA had similarly high rates (from 91% during WWII to 70% in 1964). Bullshit because only a few high profile personalities are whining (mostly actors and overpaid footballers, cry me a river), most of them well-known friends of the French right wing parties. And also because of the large number of tax exemptions who are mostly applicable to wealthy people (because they require capital to invest into real-estate and companies), their real taxation rate is usually low, even lower than middle class workers. Liliane Bettencourt, the richest woman in France (and a friend of Sarkozy) was revealed a few years ago to have approximately a 9% tax rate. It's a very similar story to Warren Buffet who had a lower tax rate than his secretary.