The Gross National Satisfaction Index

Brian Domitrovic is a champion of the so-called free market. His column in today’s Wall Street Journal has a go at those nasty French and their un-free economy.  Now France is no socialist state, but French workers have won considerable gains from the bosses when it comes to quality of life compared to us here in the US.  It is much harder to fire workers there, workers have more leisure time, and have had more influence on the state apparatus as they have historically had political parties of their own unlike workers here in the US whose political choices are limited to two capitalist parties.

Domitrovic, who teaches at Sam Houston State University, feels compelled to write in defense of unfettered markets because French president, Nicolas Sarkozy has raised what others have raised many times before, and that is the need to abandon using GDP (Gross Domestic Product) as a measure of a nation’s economic performance.

This idea is not new.  Many argue that the present measure of an economy’s success should include quality of life issues, not just how fast an economy produces goods or at what rate when compared to previous years or other economies.

The esteemed Mr. Domitrovic mockingly refers to this idea as a “gross national satisfaction index.”   “France has excellent reasons to suppress GDP statistics.”, he says because France economically is a “laggard” among developed nations.

This free marketeer goes on to explain what this means, giving various statistics about annual GDP growth in France being much lower than the US or Britain.  This all occurred since the early eighties, he says, because France refused to jump on the Milton Friedman/Ronald Reagan, supply side bandwagon. France refused in the early eighties (it would be more accurate to say that the working class resisted) to “transform its economy with a free market revolution.” Taxes are too high and the Labor market and private sector are over regulated (too hard too deprive workers of their living and too much profit spent in the form of taxes), in all, this is why France is not a successful economy, says Domitrovic.

Consequently, by the end of the 20^th century, “Americans were one-third richer than the French.” he says.  In terms of capital accumulation by the minority that controls society and owns the banks as well as the means by which we produce the necessities of life, he’s probably right. But that is not enough; France sets a bad example, it is a blot on the world of the free market and could give US workers bad ideas as do other countries where workers have forced the bosses to return more of our money to us in the form of public services.  High taxes “lured” people away from work, according to Domitrovic.  The French got used to their “..seven day weeks and six week vacations…”, he adds. More importantly, the environment was not conducive to starting a business and hiring other people to work for you. They should be more like us, be at work 24/7. For an owner of capital that purchases Labor power----the use of a human being’s life activity over a period of time---- every minute this doesn’t occur is a wasted opportunity. Money can’t be made when human Labor power is not in use as its use is the sole source of surplus value.

Domitrovic’s defense of the market is not subtle; his arguments don’t offer anything new. He simply argues for the rich to get richer and that this should come from the rest of us.

On the other hand if we look at a few other statistics, despite being a “laggard” and a loser when viewed through the eyes of a “free market revolutionist” like Domitrovic, France does pretty well in some areas that might be considered a symbol of a healthy, or healthier, economy to most workers. Not only do French workers have more job security, they get more time away from work, more leisure time than us here in the US. As of 2007, the average American took just 14 days holiday a year, the average Italian 42 days and the average Frenchman 37 days.  The reason that we show up in the bosses’ statistics as being more productive than our comrades in Europe is that we spend more time at work.  These figures might have changed somewhat as their system seized up and raking in profit from the unpaid Labor of the working class has temporarily lost some of its luster.

And France’s “laggard” economy compares fairly well in other areas that would matter to the “gross national satisfaction index.” crowd. The infant mortality rate in France stands at 3.33 deaths per 1,000 live births according to the CIA Factbook figures, compared to 6.26 deaths per 1,000 live births for the USA.*  French life expectancy (total population) is higher at 80.98 years compared to the US at 78.11 years. A French man can expect to live almost two years longer than an American and a woman, almost four on average.

The Wall Street Journal had another article today reporting on the increase in poverty in the US since the onset of the crisis. And 12% of the US population is below the poverty line compared to 6.2% of the French.  France spends 5.7% of GDP on education, the US, 5.3%.  Then of course, there is a national health care system so everyone is covered.

Domitrovic points to the success of the US and Britain, what are known as the Anglo Saxon economies.  But the British are among the most indebted in the world.  The crisis has hit Britain harder then than the US and more so the Europeans.

I am sure Domitrovic gets paid quite handsomely for expounding his views.  He has even written a book praising the Milton Friedman’s, Margaret Thatcher’s and Ronald Reagan’s of this world.  He will be paid handsomely for his bootlicking. They will send him around the world championing their cause; he will make many good connections.

The present crisis, one of the system itself, not a product of a few bad apples or a mistake here and there by one of their speculators, has changed the world for good.  Workers in the US will not return to normal, consciousness has been changed and is changing as the economy continues to totter along.  Only a few trillions of dollars of taxpayer money saved the system from falling over the cliff and Mr. Domitrovic with it. What a golden opportunity it was; but there will be more.

* https://www.cia.gov/index.html