Three challenges for the French economy at the eve of a political transition
I first published this article on the National Institute of Economic and Social Research blog . It is reproduced here with permission. As French citizens prepare to go to poll on Sunday to elect their representatives in the National Assembly, the lower – and more powerful - chamber of parliament, here is a snapshot of how the French economy has performed in the last five years, identifying three key challenges to long-term prosperity. To follow through on President Macron’s election on a reformist agenda, it is important that a majority willing to tackle those problems emerges from the assembly. Mont Saint-Michel, one of France's most touristic monuments. Picture by the author At the broadest level, the French economy under-performed its Euro Area partners for the last five years, extending earlier trends. French GDP per capita grew between 2011 and 2016 by 0.4% per annum compared to 0.5% in the Euro Area (figure 1), which means that French GDP per capita is now only 10