# Are the French actually more efficient workers?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-french-actually-more-efficient-workers/369555>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [August 21, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-french-actually-more-efficient-workers/369555 "2006-08-21T04:24:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-french-actually-more-efficient-workers/369555/21 "2006-08-21T23:40:11Z")

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[QUOTE=Malodorous]  
I don’t see how low GDP per capita translates to a low average salary.  
[/QUOTE]  
I was waiting for that. You’re right, it’s not directly related and I don’t have anything to tie it to a standard of living or wages.

[QUOTE=Malodorous]

I’m pretty sure that GDP per captia includes non-working people in the “per capita” part. So France’s would be lower even if the average incme was the same there as in the US, since they have a much higher precentage of their population unemployed.

Of course you might be right and French people may lower average incomes (they certainly have a higher tax burden in anycase), but I don’t think comparing GDP per capita demonstrates this (my google-fu is unequal to the task of finding average income stats in the two countries, perhaps someone else can find some numbers).

My bad, I think its just across the G7 countries, not the world at large.  
[/QUOTE]  
Didn’t mean to pick on the French but their attempt to solve unemployment with social engineering has not been successful. Not sure how it relates to wages or productivity.

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