Amen, Lothar. That's what I should have said.
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Productivity per hour is very good in France and while large unionised workforces are inefficient they do keep working hours low which improves standards of living (in that you are not shattered from work).
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The French economy does suck, IMHO. Productivity per hour may be high, but overall productivity is still low. GDP per capita, is the best predictor of standards of living.
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The tax rate is about 43% of GDP and laws still restrict the work week to 35 hours.
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They may as well be socialists/communists.
Probably a ton of featherbeading over there, too. The young want to do something. They are restless. If they can't work, they'll riot.
This is the problem that Saudi Arabia faces. They are looking down the barrel of ~75% unemployment (too lazy to look up exact number, but I'm close). The only way they keep the unemployed youth at bay (to the degree that they do) is by cutting them welfare checks. When/if we ever come up with an alternative to oil, you can kiss that government goodbye. That's really close to the top of my list as to why I'd like to see fuel cells work. They've gone around the globe blowing others up, at some point they'll run around their own country blowing each other up. All things come full circle.