The French Malaise, Prof. Granville on the BBC

France isn’t the sick man of Europe! So says the French Finance Minister, defending his government’s policies in the face of a dangerously sluggish economic performance. In an interview for Business Daily, Pierre Moscovici says that reform of country’s restrictive labour laws is underway and denies that a controversial 75% tax rate will have a negative impact on the country’s competitiveness. But Professor Brigitte Granville of Queen Mary University of London disagrees in the BBC World Service program Business Daily. She believes high taxes, restrictive trade practices and a bloated welfare state are stifling France’s potential.

Click here to listen to BBC World Service programme Business Daily.