Today, the CCP s political supremacy places it above the law, which encourages corruption among Party officials, whether at the local or national level. Strict Party control of religious, academic, artistic, and journalistic expression stifles the dissemination of necessary information and creative thought.

Moreover, it is only a localized effort at rebalancing a global intellectual property (IP) regime that is tilted heavily toward pharmaceutical interests at the expense of social welfare. Indeed, there is a growing consensus among economists that the current IP regime actually stifles innovation.

Moreover, France s rapidly worsening foreign trade deficit is boosting already excessive debt levels, while output is falling and unemployment is rising. Unfit for modern markets, France s tax system actually stifles the country s businesses, reflected in a disturbing increase in bankruptcies among small and medium size companies.

The burden of payroll taxes, together with overweening labor market regulation, stifles entrepreneurship. If Hollande s tax hikes on income (including a temporary 75 tax rate for the country s wealthiest households), dividends, capital gains, and capital assets are not enough to deter entrepreneurs, the cost of hiring workers and the difficulty of firing them remain powerful disincentives.

While the euro has not caused France s economic problems, its politicians commitment to the single currency represents an insurmountable barrier to solving them. The basic problem is that the country s super generous welfare state (public spending amounts to about 57 of GDP in 2010, compared to 51 in the United Kingdom and 48 in Germany) stifles the growth needed for the euro to remain viable.