The 'little man' of Europe speaks! French President Nicholas Sarkozy said that the UK has 'no industry' on French TV. Is he right? Lets look at the numbers.
Here I compare the UK with France and industrial powerhouse Germany.
Industrial 'value added' as % of GDP
The UK actually has a higher industrial output than France, but both are lower Germany.
If the UK has 'no industry' then France has less than none.
Services 'value added' as % of GDP
France is more dependent on services than the UK, and both are more dependent on services than Germany.
Agriculture as % of GDP
France is by far the most dependent on agriculture, which explains their refusal to reform the EU's Common Agricultural Policy - they are too scared to take on their farmers.
Exports as % of GDP
The UK exports more than France.
Imports as % of GDP
But it also imports more than France.
Overall, both France and Britain have much to learn from Germany.
Nicholas Sarkozy made the claim when trying to defend his raising of VAT by 1.6% to 21.2% and creating a Toobin tax on financial transfers of 0.1%.
David Cameron's government also raised VAT to 20%, but he lowered income taxes for the poorest at the same time and plans to gradually lower corporation tax in the future.
Cameron has made it very clear that he will not impose a Toobin tax on London so Sarkozy's financial transaction tax will destroy jobs in France and create them in Britain.
One final graph:
Tax revenue as % of GDP
France is the highest taxed country.
Sarkozy plans to match his tax rises with payroll tax cuts. That might help create French jobs in the long run, but it is clearly more of a plan to try to gain support in the upcoming elections. So too was his slanderous statement on the British economy.
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