“So we are to compare the official French numbers to some vague unofficial US numbers?”
No, I was simply making the point that comparing the raw numbers tends to be meaningless. Different countries measure it differently, and direct comparisons can be misleading. Its acknowledged in the UK across all political parties, for example, that the disability benefit is used as a convenient way to improve the long term unemployment statistics. However its not included in international comparisons. Given that its relatively easy to claim unemployment benefit in France and they have a small prison population, their disguised unemployment rate is likely to be lower.
Who exactly is the US protecting the French from? I don’t think Iran is really a credible threat to anybody but its neighbours. And the French actually have quite a large military force, relative to the size of their country, particularly given that Europe is peaceful and likely to remain so in the forseeable future. The US has a very large military because it wants to be the world’s leading superpower.
All forms of social security are pay as you go, and social benefits in France are paid out in the present (just as they are in other countries, accounting fudges in the US notwithstanding). Currently they can afford them. If they are unable to afford them in the future, that will be a problem for future Frenchmen to worry about. Given that France is successful economically, with a growing GDP they may well be fine.
