The French presidential election, which has its first round today, features a dozen candidates, none of whom seem to have much good to say about the performance of the man who is leaving office after 12 years in power, Jacques Chirac.
A look at the economic performance of the country under Chirac does not easily explain the antipathy. Unemployment remains high, but it is lower than it was when he took office. Economic growth has lagged that of Britain and the US, but it has outpaced that of Germany.
But there is a widespread feeling that the country has not done much to confront its real problems, which include a two-tier system that leaves many with secure jobs and guaranteed pensions while others -- particularly younger people and those from the poor suburbs of Paris -- have trouble finding work.
All the major candidates have come up with proposed ways to lower unemployment, but have been reluctant to discuss how to pay for them. Talk of reform tends to be gentle, with many in France fearful that reforms could lead to dismantling the system that has promised them good retirement benefits. But at the same time, they are concerned about France's ability to compete if it does not change. The balance-of-payments surplus Chirac inherited has turned into a deficit, albeit a much smaller one than that of the US.
Instead, much of the debate has centered on issues of national pride and identity.
Today's voting will narrow the field to two.
The favorites to survive to the second round are Nicolas Sarkozy, the former interior minister who famously called young Arab rioters "scum," and Segolene Royal, the Socialist candidate who has pushed for government subsidies to hire unemployed youths.
A centrist challenger, Francois Bayrou, is also given a chance to slip into the top two, and some think the right-winger Jean-Marie Le Pen could confound the experts by getting into the runoff this time as he did in 2002.
One reason for the hesitancy to offer specific programs has been France's national debt, which has risen sharply under Chirac, from less than half of gross domestic product to nearly two-thirds. That is about the same figure as in the US, but far higher than Germany, where debt is about 40 percent of GDP.
Among people 25 to 49 years old, French figures show that unemployment has fallen to 7.6 percent from more than 10 percent when Chirac took over. But the rate among those under 25 is still more than 21 percent.
During Chirac's terms, the French economy grew at an average rate of 2.1 percent a year, far below the 2.8 percent rate in Britain but surpassing the 1.5 percent rate in Germany.
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