Innumeracy runs rampant

Jesus, this is simply unforgiveable. Richard Gwyn, in the Toronto Star:

Objectively, France is edging toward the wings of the international stage.

Its economic weight is increasingly modest. Militarily, it's of second rank....

Two preferred solutions are constantly being called for by commentators. That the French must accept the market system and globalization or, as they call it "the Anglo-Saxon system." Also, that the French are going to have to accept multiculturalism.

Plausible though these notions are – Britain's economy now is far stronger than France's...

Okay. This is an easy one. Let's go to the CIA World Factbook:

France:
GDP (purchasing power parity): $1.871 trillion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): $2.154 trillion (2006 est.)

UK:
GDP (purchasing power parity): $1.903 trillion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): $2.341 trillion (2006 est.)

France as a % of the UK:
PPP: 98%
OER: 92%

Clearly, the French need to change their ways. Unless, of course, the French have a good year or two while the Brits continue to lose oil production with the collapse of the North Sea, in which case clearly the Brits will need to change their ways.

Oh, no, I'm sorry. That will never happen, because if there's one thing that always trumps an actual grasp of "numbers" or "facts" in the media, it's a disdain for France. Oh, and a belief that anyone who doesn't run their economies at the behest of international capital is clearly headed for the ash-heap of history.