Riots, France, and the Welfare State (more)

Many of the knee-jerk pro-war conservatives blame the riots on Islam while while pundits on the left fault free market policies (in France?) and demand preferences and other forms of state intervention. As I pointed out a few days ago, only a few have identified the most probable culprit: the French Welfare/Regulatory state.

This article from Business Week, in my view, nails it:

It's becoming quite clear how unsustainable a system is that actually fosters sky-high youth unemployment -- and not just in France Could the riots in France spell the beginning of the end of the European economic model? ....

Yet the outbursts were supercharged by an economic system that not only tolerates but actually fosters sky-high youth unemployment. In September, an incredible 21.7% of 15- to 24-year-olds in France were unemployed, compared to only 11% in the U.S. and 12.6% in Britain. France isn't alone -- other European countries, such as Belgium, Spain, Greece, Italy, and Finland -- also have persistent youth unemployment rates above 20%. Such sky-high levels of idle youth are a by-product of the welfare-state mentality that's still pervasive across much of Europe. The idea is that government's main role is to provide a safety net for the population, in terms of jobless and health benefits. Generating growth and creating jobs takes a distinctly lower priority, resulting in high unemployment, especially among the young.

UPDATE: Great minds think alike. Our L and P colleague Jason Kuznicki at Positive Liberty and Andy Morriss at St. Maximos' Hut each have a similar analysis of the riots.