Rich Lowry: Obama's Mitterrand Moment
[Rich Lowry is editor of National Review.]
In 1981, Francois Mitterrand swept to power in France in a watershed election. He united the Left and fired the imagination of the country’s youth, who danced in the streets on election night in a frenzy of revolutionary anticipation.
Mitterrand embarked on a stimulus program that would have satisfied Paul Krugman. He increased the wages of government workers and hired more of them. He boosted the minimum wage and reduced working hours. He tripled the budget deficit. In a year, he nationalized no fewer than 36 banks, along with the country’s largest industrial corporations.
The late historian Tony Judt wrote in his book Postwar that the nationalizations were meant “to symbolize the anti-capitalist intent of the new regime; to confirm that the elections of 1981 had really changed something more than just the personnel of government.” This was “change we could believe in,” taken to Gallic extremes.
Then, the unraveling. With inflation and unemployment at double digits, with the business community terrified, and with currency and people fleeing the country, Mitterrand’s “revolution” foundered on the shoals of economic and social reality. As a matter of sheer survival, he announced a “U-turn” and embraced a program of austerity, or la rigueur, reversing course on nearly everything.
Pres. Barack Obama’s “U-turn” is upon us...
Read entire article at National Review
In 1981, Francois Mitterrand swept to power in France in a watershed election. He united the Left and fired the imagination of the country’s youth, who danced in the streets on election night in a frenzy of revolutionary anticipation.
Mitterrand embarked on a stimulus program that would have satisfied Paul Krugman. He increased the wages of government workers and hired more of them. He boosted the minimum wage and reduced working hours. He tripled the budget deficit. In a year, he nationalized no fewer than 36 banks, along with the country’s largest industrial corporations.
The late historian Tony Judt wrote in his book Postwar that the nationalizations were meant “to symbolize the anti-capitalist intent of the new regime; to confirm that the elections of 1981 had really changed something more than just the personnel of government.” This was “change we could believe in,” taken to Gallic extremes.
Then, the unraveling. With inflation and unemployment at double digits, with the business community terrified, and with currency and people fleeing the country, Mitterrand’s “revolution” foundered on the shoals of economic and social reality. As a matter of sheer survival, he announced a “U-turn” and embraced a program of austerity, or la rigueur, reversing course on nearly everything.
Pres. Barack Obama’s “U-turn” is upon us...