The Democrat party and its members from the Democratic Socialists of America propose a wide range of policies alleged to make America more affordable. Based on an August 2026 Reuters/Ipsos poll, the Democrats are gaining traction, as a slight majority of those polled believe that Democrats have a better economic program than the Republican party.
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If adopted, would Democrat policies succeed? Fortunately, we have France, a particularly good country to study, as it checks almost all the Democrats’ boxes. Studying France can give us a clearer picture of what the Democrat party is trying to sell us and the inconsistency between their goals and likely outcomes.
France has everything Democrats want: a Green New Deal, essentially free public universities (trivial amounts of tuition) through Master’s degrees, free health care for all citizens, open borders per E.U. arrangements, a higher national minimum wage.
France owns — or at least holds controlling interest or minority stakes in — many domestic enterprises: electricity/nuclear, rail, urban transit, airlines, defense contractors, among others. France taxes the rich more (49 percent is its top income tax bracket versus 37 percent in the U.S.), but this isn’t enough for the government’s spending appetite. France imposes a Value Added Tax that amounts to a national sales tax. It varies by categories but reaches a high of 20 percent.
Despite all the taxes, France still has a major budget deficit.
How does France’s economy compare to that of the U.S.? Is it more affordable there? If you believe that the government knows better than you on how to spend your money, you’ll like France. The French government spends 57 percent of its nation’s income. In the U.S., the number is 34 percent as of December 2025.
How does the American Dream of home ownership play in France? Households owning primary residences are 57.6 percent in France, 65 percent in the U.S. Average square footage of houses in the U.S. is 2,296; in France, it is 1,206. So Americans are more likely to own a residence, and a much larger one — about 90 percent larger.
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France’s socialist policies have contributed to its national output per capita being substantially lower than in the U.S. Giving away free things tends to do that. U.S. GDP per capita in 2025 was $90,026, whereas France’s was $48,986. France’s unemployment rate is hovering above 8 percent, whereas the U.S. unemployment rate is approximately 4.1 percent. And if you are in favor of the Green New Deal and public ownership or control of the energy sector, note that the gasoline price is running above $9 per gallon in France. Electricity rates are higher as well, and air-conditioning is much rarer.
Think poverty is absent in France? Think again. Using France’s own definition of poverty, less than 60 percent of the national median income, it reports an overall poverty rate of 16.3 percent. The percentage of immigrants in poverty is 32.8, and for immigrants born in Africa, it is 39.7 percent.
This century, the U.S. annual real GDP growth rate has been 2.2 percent; France’s has been 1.36 percent. Since 2000, the U.S. real GDP has grown 76 percent. France has grown 41 percent. Small differences in growth rates add up to big differences in outcomes over time.
Any objective economist would end this by noting that the choice of an economic system is still ultimately an individual value judgment. But following socialist France in lowering U.S. national income, lowering economic growth, raising unemployment, making the American Dream harder to achieve, and giving a substantially greater share of our income to government to spend without the benefit of good French bread is for me a no-brainer. Non, merci!
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Image via Pxhere.