French Culture Mike Rappaport

Richard Posner writes an extremely interesting post analyzing culture from an economic perspective.  He explains why it is so difficult to change a culture.

The post focuses in on the French culture, and begins with this gem:

[P]ublic opinion polls indicate that the French are more hostile toward capitalism than virtually any other nation; a recent poll finds that only 36 percent of the French have a favorable opinion of capitalism, compared to 71 percent of Americans. The French are at once highly statist, which is related to the rejection of capitalism, and highly prone to riots and work stoppages, which may also be, as I will suggest. They are unusually xenophobic, as indicated by their efforts to prevent the incorporation of English words into the French language, their resistance to foreign acquisition of French companies, and their emphatically independent line (going back to De Gaulle) in foreign relations and military matters. The French are, in short, culturally distinct.