Well before the end of the 30 years of steady economic growth in France known as the “Trente Glorieuses” and the start of the downturn that is still affecting the economy, Pierre Bonnaure points out the country’s weaknesses that were already identifiable (and could therefore have been tackled). In fact in a book published in 1956 which attempted to foresee how France might develop between that date and 1970, André Maurois listed some nascent problems that could reduce France to becoming a distinctly average economic power.
Since then the world has undergone huge changes but the observation remains relevant and recurs every year in some book or article: France is in a bad way and the French reject all attempts at reform. Faced with this intractable diagnosis, nothing is likely to change, doubtless because the politicians failed to take notice soon enough of the lessons to be learned from studies of the future such as that of André Maurois.
The Decline of France Foreseen (Futures of yesteryear)
Cet article fait partie de la revue Futuribles n° 311, sept. 2005
