France can teach historic rival Britain a thing or two

My columnist colleague Richard Dean recently wrote a pointed farewell to the United Kingdom, blaming tax, time-wasting and teachers for producing an economy he did not wish to be a member of any more. Having just had an opportunity to sample the British economic system once gain at first hand, and to compare it with its historic rival across the Channel, France, I can only agree with him wholeheartedly.

The UK seems to be on a downward spiral that its political and economic leaders cannot halt. The government of Gordon Brown is in permanent crisis mode, with calls for the resignation of the prime minister flooding in by the day; the property-fuelled economy is faltering badly, and even the renowned financial sector – which was supposed to have taken over from manufacturing as the dynamo of the country's growth – is in serious trouble. One of the great financial institutions of Britain, Royal Bank of Scotland, last week apologised for a £600 million (Dh4.4 billion) loss, its first in 40 years.

But it is the state of the country's infrastructure that really hits you.

Heathrow is a mess, the transport system is in bad repair, and London appears gloomy and dangerous.

France has its own problems too. The country has been hit by the world financial crisis as much as anywhere else, credit is tight and there is looming trouble in the big cities. But successive French governments have invested so much in the infrastructure and public services that it is well placed to ride the recession. The public education system and the national transport infrastructure are symbols of national pride.

There is a politician in charge, Nicolas Sarkozy, who appears determined to push through a new revolution in the way French people work and do business, freeing up entrepreneurial talent and cutting the costly burden of high state spending. And France still makes things that the rest of the world wants to buy.

All I can say is: "vive la difference!"