50 Million AOLers Can't Be Wrong.....
 

See:

[url]http://www.aol.com/article/2014/09/04/selling-mona-lisa-could-ease-france-s-national-debt/20957376/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl19%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D524878[/url]

[QUOTE]
Selling Mona Lisa Could Ease France's National Debt
Sep 4th 2014 2:36PM 45Comments
Can a national treasure be used to pay off the national debt?

The state-run news agency France 24 has suggested Leonardo da Vinci's
Mona Lisa be sold to pay off France's $2.6 trillion deficit. Despite
the fact the masterpiece is said to be "priceless," France 24 speculates
the Mona Lisa could easily be worth $2.4 billion and it's sale could
wipe away nearly ten percent of the debt in one fell swoop. Apparently
the work was valued at nearly $100 million in the 1960s, so France
24 estimates it would be worth $2.4 billion today after inflation.
[/QUOTE]

Some Frenchmen it seems can't do arithmetic. The debt is $2.6 x 10^12,
yet selling one painting worth $2.4 x 10^9 will pay off 10% of that debt???

What have they been smoking?????

The original article (referred in your linked story): [url]http://www.france24.com/en/20140902-could-france-sell-mona-lisa-pay-off-its-debts/[/url]

[QUOTE=R.D. Silverman;382193](SNIP)

What have they been smoking?????[/QUOTE]

Do Gauloises impair mathematical performance? :smile:

$2.4 billion? Snicker... they couldn't even pull that off (not that it would dent their debt).

More seriously, even if the French PTB could pull off such a stunt (say by emptying the Louvre), it would simply encourage them to run up another couple trillion in debt, lather, rinse, repeat. At the end your country is devoid of its cultural treasures, your museums are looted, and you have accomplished 0 in terms of putting your national economy on a sustainable footing.

This is similar to those "let's mint $trillion platinum coins" inanities but is even more stupid, because while minting such a coin creates the same moral-hazard dynamic w.r.to fiscal discipline, it costs virtually nothing.

Now, here is a tiny homework question -- what % of French GDP is public spending?

[QUOTE=ewmayer;382236]Now, here is a tiny homework question -- what % of French GDP is public spending?[/QUOTE]

I get a whopping [url=https://www.google.com/search?q=1291.4+billion+eur+%2F+2.886+trillion+usd]58%[/url]. :confused: Can that even be right?

[QUOTE=ewmayer;382236]More seriously..[/QUOTE]
+1. :goodposting: Excellent posting!

[QUOTE=CRGreathouse;382262]I get a whopping [url=https://www.google.com/search?q=1291.4+billion+eur+%2F+2.886+trillion+usd]58%[/url]. :confused: Can that even be right?[/QUOTE]

Give that man a (governed by 1000+ pages of EU and French regulations, heavily sin-and-VAT-taxed, and rolled from government-subsidized locally-grown tobacco by unionized cigar-rollers who are able to retire at 50 with pension = 100%-of-max-salary due to their profession being deemed "hazardous") cigar.

The sad thing is that France has a highly educated workforce and lots of pent-up innovation (especially in tech) which would really help their economic picture if it were allowed to flourish and innovate without government meddling.

[QUOTE=R.D. Silverman;382193]See: [url]http://www.aol.com/article/2014/09/04/selling-mona-lisa-could-ease-france-s-national-debt/20957376/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl19%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D524878[/url]

Some Frenchmen it seems can't do arithmetic. The debt is $2.6 x 10^12,
yet selling one painting worth $2.4 x 10^9 will pay off 10% of that debt???

What have they been smoking?????[/QUOTE][QUOTE=kladner;382208]Do Gauloises impair mathematical performance? :smile:[/QUOTE]The problem is AOL wanting to have a good piece of juicy news and completely deforming the article they pretend to quote.
[QUOTE=ewmayer;382269]... (governed by 1000+ pages of EU and French regulations, heavily sin-and-VAT-taxed, and rolled from government-subsidized locally-grown tobacco by unionized cigar-rollers who are able to retire at 50 with pension = 100%-of-max-salary due to their profession being deemed "hazardous") ...[/QUOTE]Distance and preconception make for a coloured opinion. *

Jacob

* AFAIK the state company SEITA has been merged with it's Spanish equivalent and privatised, now the remnants of it are the property of Imperial Tobacco. The time of the French made cigars have long flown by. The rate of trade union membership in France is extremely low compared to other European countries (it is even significantly lower than in the USA !). And yes there is a difference of conceptualisation about retirement pensions between the USA and Europe...

Sometimes caricaturization is overdone and turns to prejudice.

[QUOTE=R.D. Silverman;382193]See:

[URL]http://www.aol.com/article/2014/09/04/selling-mona-lisa-could-ease-france-s-national-debt/20957376/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl19%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D524878[/URL]



Some Frenchmen it seems can't do arithmetic. The debt is $2.6 x 10^12,
yet selling one painting worth $2.4 x 10^9 will pay off 10% of that debt???

What have they been smoking?????[/QUOTE]

The AOL article has corrected this to 0.1%. And the France24 article does not have a % figure at all. So I suspect it is the Americans who are having trouble with arithmetic here.

PS: To all the France bashers, did you know that to compare French government spending to the US, you might need to add back that little-wittle thing called health spending. The French mostly get free healthcare provided through taxes. So you cannot compare govt spending as % of GDP. And their outcomes are better than those of US.

[QUOTE=ewmayer;382269]Give that man a (governed by 1000+ pages of EU and French regulations, heavily sin-and-VAT-taxed, and rolled from government-subsidized locally-grown tobacco by unionized cigar-rollers who are able to retire at 50 with pension = 100%-of-max-salary due to their profession being deemed "hazardous") cigar.

The sad thing is that France has a highly educated workforce and lots of pent-up innovation (especially in tech) which would really help their economic picture if it were allowed to flourish and innovate without government meddling.[/QUOTE]

A good start would be not electing a president whose official political affiliation is "Socialist".