Johnny Hallyday, the French singer and actor, has had enough of high taxes in France and decided to move to Switzerland.
According to Hallyday, “Like many people in France, I have had enough of paying these ridiculous taxes we are forced today. That’s it, I’ve made my decision.”
French politicians are reported to be shocked. Jean-François Copé, the Budget Minister, has even said that “Johnny Hallyday was not carrying out his patriotic duty of paying his taxes to his own country.” It appears that no prominent politician in France has even considered the possibility that Hallyday may be right to want to keep more of the money he has earned!
Of course this is not the first time that a French celebrity has opted to live in a country with lower income tax. Some years ago, Laetitia Casta, a French supermodel, got upset over high taxes in her home country and left for London.
There she joined tens of thousands of her compatriots, who find the French taxes too burdensome and job opportunities too scarce. Casta’s flight would have been unremarkable had it not been for the fact that she was cast as the model for the bust of Marianne, symbol of the French Republic, an honor formerly held by Bridgitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve.
The above stories personify the conflict between the image of France purveyed by the governing elite and the reality. On the one hand, France is portrayed as a strong and confident country, whose people, unlike the Americans, are committed to “social solidarity.” On the other hand, there is the reality of high taxes, high unemployment, uncertainty, and a general feeling of malaise. As more of the young, educated, and successful French move abroad, the welfare state will grow more unsustainable.
The question is, do Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal recognize the need for deep reforms, or will the victor of this year’s presidential elections turn out to be the younger version of Jacques Chirac?
