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Programme examining the ideas and forces which shape public policy in Britain and abroad.

Programme examining the ideas and forces which shape public policy in Britain and abroad, presented by distinguished writers, journalists and academics.

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Analysis: France: Sinking Slowly?

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France: Sinking Slowly?

11/11/2013

BBC Radio 4 - Analysis, France: Sinking Slowly?

Can France afford its attachment to the big state? Emma Jane Kirby presents.

The French are far more attached to the centralised, big state than their Anglo-Saxon counterparts. Former BBC Paris Correspondent Emma Jane Kirby asks if it is affordable.

The French are far more attached to the idea of a centralised, big state than their Anglo-Saxon counterparts. The philosophy behind it, Colbertism, holds that the economy of France should serve the state and that the state should direct the economy.

But as France's big state looks less affordable, some French intellectuals are arguing that it is time that French identity became less tied to the dirigiste idea. Former BBC Paris Correspondent Emma Jane Kirby travels to France to meet those questioning their country's traditional resistance to economic reform.

Producer: Fiona Leach.

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