Election time

The French elections are all the news on every channel, newspaper and radio station and even here in Switzerland where the French speaking cantons in this region feel more in touch with Paris than the German-speaking Suisse-Allemandes in the east.

I think everyone can feel this is a very decisive election. The choice to be really blunt is down to:

Miss 'Vote for me because I'm a woman' (yeah...and?) tax and spend socialist who's going to spend her way into a full job market (?) and promises everyone an almost guaranteed job for life. (Ségolène Royal). Watch over-taxed and over-regulated businesses and individuals leave the country in droves.

Mr 'Vote for me because I'm actually going to do something to shake this country up. It may be painful but it's the only way forward' (Nicolas Sarkozy). Everyone knows he's right but heck change is scary and the socialists are running a scare campaign trying to convince everyone that instead of instituting some overdue medium-level reforms to the social system and labor market (like scrapping the ridiculous 35 hour week), he's going to turn France into an exaggerated US model of ruthless Darwinian capitalism.

Mr 'Vote for me because I am a farmer, I know how to pat a cow and I'm a safe middle-of-the-road option plus am neither of the above two people. (Francois Bayrou). Watch the status quo go on for yet another decade as soon as he's won and he turns into 'do nothing, say nothing, be nothing' President.

The country as a whole really needs the middle option (Sarkozy) but no one wants to (personally) make any sacrifices. It is a vicious circle. The more severe the consequences should you lose or not have a job the more protected people want their jobs to be, so the more rigid the labour market becomes and hence the more dire things are should you lose that job and round and round it goes.

The next two weeks will be very important.