The French are always a little sensitive to any French bashing from certain sections of the Anglo media, but an article in Newsweek magazine has proved they can only take so much.
The article, titled The Fall of France, by journalist Janine di Giovanni, sparked uproar among the Gallic press on Monday, who were as angry as they were bemused by some of the statements in the report.
In “The Fall of France” Di Giovanni, who has lived in France for a decade, slams the country's high taxes for sending the brightest minds rushing to the exits just like the Huguenots did in the 17th century.
The article is partly a first person piece, based on her own experiences, in which she cites friends and French professionals to illustrate the mess she believes France is in.
“The best thinkers in France have left the country. What is now left is mediocrity," a 'senior United Nations official tells her.
“The past two years have seen a steady, noticeable decline in France. There is a grayness that the heavy hand of socialism casts,” writes Di Giovanni, setting the scene for her diatribe against the country where she now lives.
Blasting France for its high taxes is not a new line of attack of course, but Di Giovanni, who lives in the wealthy 6th arrondissement, also criticizes the country for the high cost of milk – “A half litre in Paris costs nearly $4 (€3)”
The editor of France’s Huffington Post Anne Sinclair, former wife of Dominique Strauss-Kahn tweeted “Enough of Newsweek’s French bashing”.
In an editorial for her site Sinclair wrote: “What world does this woman live in? Or more to the point where? She surely could have found more to say and in a less ridiculous way!”
France’s left leaning newspaper Le Monde took a more scientific approach in responding to Di Giovanni’s piece, picking it apart point by point to highlight the “thousand and one” errors they say the piece contained.
Whereas Di Giovanni writes: “The top tax rate is 75 percent, and a great many pay in excess of 70 percent”, Le Monde points out that it is companies not individuals who are subject to the tax, and it is on salaries over €1 million. Le Monde also notes that the highest tax rate in France is actually 45 percent.
Le Monde’s bloggers also ridiculed Di Giovanni’s claim over the price of milk, which they pointed out, like many others on Monday that milk actually costs around €1.30 a litre.
Val says All the papers have this story. Malc was reading it in le Monde whilst I was reading in Newsweek and the Local
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