Althouse: "The 'yellow vest' protests have been 'a catastrophe' for the French economy, the finance minister says...."

December 9, 2018

"The 'yellow vest' protests have been 'a catastrophe' for the French economy, the finance minister says...."

"About 125,000 protesters took to the streets on Saturday, with more than 1,700 people arrested. Several tourist sites, including the Eiffel Tower and Louvre Museum, are closed this weekend... 'There was much more damage yesterday than a week ago' because Saturday's protests were more dispersed, deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire told local radio.... There are concerns that the protests could lead to a drop in tourism. Paris was visited by a record number of tourists in 2017 - more than 40 million.... The government has... agreed to scrap the fuel tax increase and has frozen electricity and gas prices for 2019. But protests have also erupted over other issues, including calls for higher wages, lower taxes, better pensions and easier university entry requirements. The movement's core aim, to highlight the economic frustration and political distrust of poorer working families, still has widespread support."

BBC reports.

67 comments:

Kevin said...: The "March for Climate" was a more diverse crowd, with far more women and older people and a handful of children. The "yellow vest" protests are overwhelmingly male, with just a few women for the hundreds of men pouring through the streets.

Bloomberg's reporting yesterday told everyone who the right kind of people were, so the right kind of people would know whom to support.; 12/9/18, 9:52 AM
Ralph L said...: I thought the protests were only on weekends, and how many tourists do they get in December?; 12/9/18, 9:54 AM
Wince said...: The movement's core aim, to highlight the economic frustration and political distrust of poorer working families, still has widespread support.

In related news...

Chuck Grassley Wants to Know: Why Did FBI Agents Raid the House of a Whistleblower Exposing the Clintons?; 12/9/18, 9:55 AM
john said...: "But protests have also erupted over other issues, including calls for higher wages, lower taxes, better pensions and easier university entry requirements."

So it's the same ole, same ole for France.; 12/9/18, 9:58 AM
rehajm said...: The economic damage is nowhere near as great as conforming to the Paris Agreements. As in the US it's probably too much to ask the French to understand economic concepts like tradeoff, opportunity cost and unintended consequences.; 12/9/18, 10:01 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: No no no - how dare the bamboozled proles demand lower taxes.

You will demand tax rape and like it, like good American Leftists.; 12/9/18, 10:03 AM
Yancey Ward said...: This reasons given by the protesters and the government propaganda practitioners in the media are not what is important here- it is the protests and their nature that is notable. The governing elite are being revealed as both corrupt and incompetent. When that happens, the governments eventually fall, one way or the other. The fuel tax was just the piece of straw that broke the camel's back- removing the straw doesn't fix the beast.; 12/9/18, 10:04 AM
rehajm said...: But protests have also erupted over other issues

Were these the same protesters or were these other protests that incidentally collided with the yellow people? I imagine most of France is just protests colliding with each other.; 12/9/18, 10:05 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Trump will be indicted over payments made to silence women he had sex with.

Obama was never indicted for actual misuse of campaign funds.

weee!

Hillary was never indicted for setting up a Private Server while Head of the State Department.

Feel the hypocrisy.; 12/9/18, 10:06 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Think about the image here- the French government employed all those police resources yesterday doing what? They were employed defending government buildings and monuments while allowing the protesters to destroy the property of private owners across the cities.; 12/9/18, 10:07 AM
Tommy Duncan said...: "But protests have also erupted over other issues, including calls for higher wages, lower taxes, better pensions and easier university entry requirements."

"Eating rainbow stew with a silver spoon
Underneath that sky of blue
We'll all be drinking that free bubble up
And eating that rainbow stew" --Merle Haggard; 12/9/18, 10:08 AM
traditionalguy said...: Les Misarables meet The Deplorables and want Trump to save their Nation from the Fourth Reich.; 12/9/18, 10:16 AM
mockturtle said...: Remember the Boston Tea Party.; 12/9/18, 10:32 AM
Original Mike said...: "The 'yellow vest' protests have been 'a catastrophe' for the French economy, the finance minister says...."

The protests are not the proximate cause of the troubled French economy.; 12/9/18, 10:35 AM
Darrell said...: The Trump chants never make it to audio tape.; 12/9/18, 10:38 AM
Original Mike said...: "The government has... agreed to scrap the fuel tax increase and has frozen electricity and gas prices for 2019."

The government sets fuel and gas prices but yeah, the protests are the problem. {/s}; 12/9/18, 10:58 AM
chickelit said...: I do love the name in French: Mouvement des gilets jaunes. The consonants are silent in gilet jaunes and it rolls off the tongue as [ʒilɛ ʒon].

We need an orange vest movement in the US.; 12/9/18, 11:01 AM
Dad29 said...: Of note is the growth of "Venues" for the protest, which now includes the EU HQ in Brussels.

Hmmmmm.; 12/9/18, 11:04 AM
Sebastian said...: "poorer working families"

Illustrates the left muscling in on rural-deplorable protests. More than a few anarchists in the "protests," I suspect.; 12/9/18, 11:09 AM
Narayanan said...: Enlighten me on this...
Don't tourists recover all the VAT they paid during stay as they exit France?; 12/9/18, 11:09 AM
Comanche Voter said...: Which catastrophe for the economy? Yesterday's protests---or the economic winter that the proposed regulations would create?; 12/9/18, 11:10 AM
rcocean said...: that's the only way to get the elite's attention.

Mob violence.; 12/9/18, 11:13 AM
Anonymous said...: "The 'yellow vest' protests have been 'a catastrophe' for the French economy"

It's Dec. WTF. If you want disruption, which regularly is caused by massive trade union strikes in France, but there in July when the government train unions or cabbies or ... go out across the nation.

by comparison, this is a little strike at the dead time of the year.; 12/9/18, 11:20 AM
Big Mike said...: “Yellow vest protests 'economic catastrophe' for France”

Seems fair. The proposed taxes would have been economic catastrophes for the Yellow Vest protesters who are burning Paris.; 12/9/18, 11:21 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Lets not forget, immigrants go BOOM, slash slash. Cars engulfed in flames. Beat cops with machine guns... Gay Paree! I'll pass.; 12/9/18, 11:28 AM
tcrosse said...: Piaf said it best.; 12/9/18, 11:29 AM
Seeing Red said...: French solcialism and French healthcare rules have been catastrophic for the French economy for decades.

Then Obamacare applied some of those French rules and we got “the new normal.”; 12/9/18, 11:32 AM
Yancey Ward said...: "that's the only way to get the elite's attention. Mob violence"

I am beginning the to believe they only way to really get their attention is to hang them from bridges.; 12/9/18, 11:37 AM
Original Mike said...: "by comparison, this is a little strike at the dead time of the year."

Yeah, but it makes a readymade excuse for the finance minister. 'Not my fault, it's the protests!'; 12/9/18, 11:45 AM
Achilles said...: Same fight different place.

The globalists are trying to set up a 3 way vote with the options being remain, leave with the deal everyone hates, and leave without a deal.

They couldn’t be more transparent.

The EU is the globalist vehicle to control Europe just like the false choice between Clinton’s and Bushes was here.

The globalists are losing their grip on their serfs all over the world.

Expect a major world war soon.; 12/9/18, 12:05 PM
MayBee said...: I wonder if there are fawning stories in Paris about how exciting it was to pick out the yellow vests and ride the buses together to the protest place, and how they are going to change the world and RESIST!!!; 12/9/18, 12:08 PM
Big Mike said...: @Yancey, I agree that the mainstream Democrats and their enablers in the Deep State and media are both nasty and evil, but let’s not go there.; 12/9/18, 12:41 PM
Leland said...: My wife and I visited Paris for the first time this year. We could have easily spent 3 days there, but chose to only spend 1 day. Primarily, I was concerned about safety.

I'll say that my visit was great, and I wished that we had another day. The only thing I didn't like was the American girls (they had American accents) kept running up to us by the Eiffel Tower and demanding we sign some petition. They were very ugly in their approach and demeanor.

Alas, the events of the last few weeks remind me why I chose to only spend 1 day.; 12/9/18, 12:49 PM
Paco Wové said...: "the American girls ...kept running up to us by the Eiffel Tower and demanding we sign some petition"

They were probably gypsies. It's a well-known scam.; 12/9/18, 1:25 PM
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...: These are all the policies that the Democrats are turning to in their abrupt pivot left. What would President Sanders have done differently if he had both houses of Congress?; 12/9/18, 1:32 PM
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...: Les Deplorables.; 12/9/18, 1:38 PM
tcrosse said...: La canaille.; 12/9/18, 1:46 PM
chickelit said...: Les Moonves
Mor Deplorables; 12/9/18, 1:55 PM
tcrosse said...: You can read all about it en Anglais at France24 Or click on "Live" at the top of the screen and stream it.; 12/9/18, 1:56 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: "the French are all Oui! Oui!'d up", mused the Mocha Messiah; 12/9/18, 2:02 PM
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...: "America needs its own Macron” - Max Boot

“Victory for Macron, France, EU, and the World!” - Hillary Clinton

Macron has finalized the descent of France into a satrapy of Germany and the EU. He even played the "EU anthem” in his victory stroll after his inauguration.; 12/9/18, 2:03 PM
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...: All this from a Facebook algorithm tweak that inadvertently allowed les deplorables to communicate among themselves.; 12/9/18, 2:09 PM
Drago said...: Achilles: "The globalists are trying to set up a 3 way vote with the options being remain, leave with the deal everyone hates, and leave without a deal.

They couldn’t be more transparent."

I recommend everyone take a good look at the recently (May of 2018) enacted EU GDPR rules which are specifically designed to go after, attack, and force the major tech companies to abide by EU rules globally and to act as a new conduit of funding (thru fines) for the Euroweenie socialists.

Peter Thiel summed it up nicely: “The good reasons are these privacy concerns and the bad reasons are there are no successful tech companies in Europe and they are jealous of the US so they are punishing us.”; 12/9/18, 2:09 PM
Big Mike said...: He [Macron] even played the "EU anthem” in his victory stroll after his inauguration.

A sad use for “The Ode to Joy.”; 12/9/18, 2:16 PM
Big Mike said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/9/18, 2:16 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: " How The Vest Was Jaune " by L'Amour; 12/9/18, 2:32 PM
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...: Macron is a handsome devil. This is a preview of President Beto.; 12/9/18, 2:41 PM
Sam L. said...: I suspect the widespread support will spread more widely.
Ingachuck @ 2:32: EXCELLENT.; 12/9/18, 2:52 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: thanks @Sam !!
we know your standards are high, and we aim to meet or exceed them!; 12/9/18, 3:08 PM
El Supremo said...: The yellow vests symbolize the government cheese they worship.; 12/9/18, 3:59 PM
El Supremo said...: The French government hands out American cheese, but they renamed it "freedom cheese".; 12/9/18, 4:02 PM
Trumpit said...: Macron is not as pro-rich as Schlump & the GOP. Their tax cuts to benefit the wealthy proved that. The drop in the stock market in 2018 reflect the bad economic policies of the greedy GOP politicians and their lobbyist funders. *I've read that the electric chair is back in action in Tennessee. Schlump should face the Guillotine to save on Tennessee coal-generated electricity. Schlump should be tried as a war criminal in the Hague. He declared war on the environment and the middle class worker. What a heartless Grinch he is. We are not immune from rioting here.

* https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2018/12/06/david-earl-miller-execution-electric-chair-tennessee/2158239002/; 12/9/18, 4:43 PM
Roger Sweeny said...: Perhaps the most far-sighted reaction to all this was by Razib Khan:

Re: “yellow vest” : Just makes me wonder how are WE going to pay for everything that we take for granted as something due to us by right of working hard and playing by the rules? and by “WE” I mean everyone in the developed world.

First World Peronism isn't going to do it.; 12/9/18, 4:51 PM
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...: The French believe that he represents the rich, same as Hillary Clinton does.; 12/9/18, 4:51 PM
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...: The French media keeps talking about how the money comes back in services, but seem forbidden to mention that those services are now being diverted to migrants who don't give a shit about French wines, cheeses, French culture, or even the language. It's amazing what a nice looking argument you can make if you get to ignore the gorilla in the room.

Now the Belgian government has fallen. Who would have thunk that there were Flemish nationalists who didn't want to see Flemish culture destroyed?; 12/9/18, 4:57 PM
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...: Macron is pleased to announce that the speed limits in rural France have been increased from 90 to 80 kph!; 12/9/18, 5:08 PM
alanc709 said...: Is Trumpit really that deranged? Macron is pro-RICH? Man, you really need to up your meds.; 12/9/18, 5:11 PM
Big Mike said...: Trumpit seems to be unaware that the Trump tax cuts benefited the middle class, and that capping the tax credit for state and local taxes hit the wealthy very hard right in the wallet. Before wife and I downsized and fled to the wilds of the Shenandoah Valley, back when we lived in Fairfax County, our property taxes already were nearing $10,000 annually for a moderate-sized house. I can't even begin to imagine what Trumpit's good friends the K Street lawyers were paying on their gated mansions (not gated communities, though Fairfax has a lot of those, but individual gated mansions).

But let's not tell that to Trumpit. Let's let the poor dear wallow in his hatred of Republicans and other people who work for a living.; 12/9/18, 5:13 PM
Big Mike said...: I have been teaching cybersecurity, and IMHO the EU General Data Protection Regulation is a good thing. We American are and have been too trusting about federal and private (e.g., Google and Facebook) enterprises harvesting our personal data and our unguarded thoughts.; 12/9/18, 5:20 PM
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of New York said...: Macron is pro super hyper rich, who don't give a flying fuck about the price of gas at the pump.; 12/9/18, 6:03 PM
Patrick Wahl said...: And if you went to the web site of that joke news organization known as CNN, you won't see a peep about this story. Maybe they don't know there are riots in Paris, maybe someone needs to notify them.; 12/9/18, 6:22 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/9/18, 8:15 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/9/18, 8:30 PM
Original Mike said...: "France is investigating Russia’s alleged role in promoting the so-called Yellow Vest movement after recent reports suggest Moscow-linked news outlets spread false information about the protests."

Aren't these people imaginative enough to think up a new boogeymen?; 12/9/18, 9:24 PM
narciso said...: Well the usual suspects keep buying it:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/angela-merkel-migration-christian-democrats-annegret-kramp-karrenbauer-germany-a8675041.html?fbclid=IwAR1NOjUSPdO8kagHYnvB7QRMgEHoNazTdHsecmH0ZP-I7FVFZ9DQxpOL0Cc; 12/9/18, 9:29 PM
stlcdr said...: When will the guillotines come out?

‘Guillotine’ seems to be s word that needs to make a comeback.; 12/10/18, 1:19 AM
Big Mike said...: Aren't these people imaginative enough to think up a new boogeymen?

The last creative person departed France when Picasso died. And he was Spanish.; 12/10/18, 2:52 AM