(What I believe to be) wise words from the former president of the Dassault Group (Aviation/Systemes), Serge Dassault, from his interview in the May 2003 issue of Aerospace America:

“But what is political life?  What is the good of political life?  The purpose of it should be to make economic activity easier, to provide what is needed for work.  And there’s something else:  In France, people who practice politics but who know nothing about business are blinded by false ideas, socialist ideologies, ideologies of this or that, which lead them to make totally stupid decisions about economic realities.  That’s why it doesn’t work.

“When people say that they intend to increase the constraints on companies so that they can’t shed jobs, that’s stupid. The purpose of a company is not to continually lose employees, of course it isn’t. Its purpose is to recruit. If it does make people redundant, that’s becuase there is no trade. And if laws are created, laws to prevent companies from making employees redundant, and if people think this will protect jobs, that shows they understand nothing. And in my humble opinion, politicians in France seem to understand nothing.

“And so that is why I, who understand something about economic matters, am convinced that if you really want to facilitate economic activity and make the job situation easier for everyone—and it’s not a question of favoring shareholders, employees, office workers, one side or the other, it’s everyone—then it is essential for everyone to be able to live, work, and be motivated together.

“It’s no good saying that everyone has to earn the same, or that everyone has to retire at the same age, or that you have to have a 35-hr week, or that you must do this or that. There are companies who say no—we can’t accept this. That is when everything locks up.”