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Turning French

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Media
Posted on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 10:07:23 AM EST
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Roger Cohen plays the "French Card" regarding our economic crisis:

I love France, but I don’t want there to be two of them, least of all if one is in the United States. . . . There is a touch of France in its “étatisme” — the state as all-embracing solution rather than problem . . . I’d thought of Obama as less Robespierre than Talleyrand. I still think he’s more bridge-building centrist than revolutionary. He needs to be. Money has never been more fungible than today. Punish capital and it will punish you by saying, “Hasta la vista!” The former French President François Mitterrand learned that a little over a quarter-century ago when, after an initial wave of nationalizations, he reversed course. . . Americans, at least in their imaginations, have always lived at the new frontier; French frontiers have not shifted much in centuries. . . Obama, in his restorative counter-revolution, must be careful to steer clear of his French temptation.

[More...]

I gather two points from this column - (1) Roger Cohen wanted to make sure people knew he lived in France for an extended period; and (2) he knows nothing about economics. I do not write that Cohen knows nothing about economics because of what Cohen wrote about economics in the column - it is because he wrote nothing about economics in the column, a column ostensibly about our economic crisis. Therefore, I assume he knows nothing about economics. He does know about Robespierre, Talleyrand, Mitterand, and presumably, fine Paris restaurants, but that knowledge is not usefully applied to the current economic crisis. Would that he knew a bit more about Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John Maynard Keynes.

Speaking for me only

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    Turning French | 30 comments (30 topical)

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    I tried, I really tried to read the Cohen article (5.00 / 7) (#6)
    by DFLer on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 10:27:07 AM EST
    but my brain drained on this:
    Money has never been more fungible than today.

    What the hell does he mean? When was it ever less fungible?


    fun·gi·ble (fŭn'jə-bəl) pronunciation
    adj.1. Law. Returnable or negotiable in kind or by substitution, as a quantity of grain for an equal amount of the same kind of grain.
       2. Interchangeable.
    n. Something that is exchangeable or substitutable. Often used in the plural.

    [Medieval Latin fungibilis, from Latin fungī (vice), to perform (in place of).]

    Then, if that wasn't enough, when he threw in the Spanish "haste la vista" I really had to stop. Why bother reading on when the writer can't even stick to his own metaphor?

    You did better than I did. (none / 0) (#22)
    by RickMassimo on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 01:38:34 PM EST
    I couldn't get past:

    Money has never been more fungible than today. ... The former French President François Mitterrand learned that a little over a quarter-century ago ...

    FAIL.

    Parent

    A quarter century ago conditions were different (none / 0) (#26)
    by BernieO on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 04:31:24 PM EST
    If a corporation was unhappy in one country they would relocate. Now there is no good place to go since this crisis is world wide. And it is not just financial institutions here that aren't lending.

    People need to wake up and realize that this is not like any other downturn since the Great Depression.

    Parent

    Fungible (none / 0) (#23)
    by squeaky on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 02:00:11 PM EST
    Is a pretty common term. Not sure why you would pick on that detail when it is really his point of view that is reactionary here.

    Parent
    Like I said (none / 0) (#24)
    by DFLer on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 02:16:04 PM EST
    What the hell does he mean? When was it ever less fungible?

    I included the definition, because I do like that service of the NYT online where you can click on any word and it opens up a dictionary definition of that word.

    I was not taking exception to his use of the word, but his statement about fungibility of money today, as opposed to whenever.


    Parent

    These Days (none / 0) (#25)
    by squeaky on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 02:17:29 PM EST
    Cash is king. That is what he means and it is quite accurate, imo.

    Parent
    Actuallly, I think that's ... (none / 0) (#28)
    by Robot Porter on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 04:34:07 PM EST
    the exact opposite of what he means.

    Parent
    Hardly (none / 0) (#29)
    by squeaky on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 04:37:24 PM EST
    He is being cute, at best here. His little joke is that nothing is fungible these days, except cash. IOW cash is a valuable commodity now because it is so rare.

    Parent
    Nah, he's referring ... (none / 0) (#30)
    by Robot Porter on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 05:00:23 PM EST
    to the speed at which money can move.

    Most of which isn't cash, even by the most charitable definition.

    Parent

    Speed, Yes (none / 0) (#32)
    by squeaky on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 05:41:35 PM EST
    He is arguing that if we nationalize, US dollars will be exchanged for other currencies very quickly and lose value with great speed. His example is that when Mitterand took France into socialism the franc tanked big time and the dollar ruled.

    Parent
    Hasta la vista? (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by eric on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 10:47:56 AM EST
    In the middle of making these comparisons to France, he throws "Hasta la vista" in there?  Does he think this is French?  "Hasta" is part of our vocab these days, thanks to Arnold, but the way he inserts it in this article, which is otherwise ALL about France, (he even has an "off with their heads" reference,) makes me think he thinks this is French, too.

    "Au revoir", maybe?

    He actually lived in Paris, TX (5.00 / 4) (#8)
    by andgarden on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 10:59:02 AM EST
    and doesn't want to admit it.

    Parent
    Think he was trying ... (none / 0) (#31)
    by Robot Porter on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 05:01:58 PM EST
    to get his Terminator on.

    Proving he's a real man, not like them Frenchies.

    Parent

    From France (5.00 / 3) (#15)
    by caramel on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 12:12:54 PM EST
    It's precisely the 'étatsime' that provides for universal healthcare, unemployment benefits and pension funds in France, while America has God knows how many people without any kind of health coverage, millions of kids not eating decently, etc, etc...

    C'est What??? (5.00 / 0) (#20)
    by Anne on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 12:52:46 PM EST
    Sorry, that was lame, but so was Cohen's drivel.

    Strange (none / 0) (#1)
    by andgarden on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 10:12:09 AM EST


    This isn't the first ... (none / 0) (#2)
    by Robot Porter on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 10:16:41 AM EST
    time I've heard someone play "the French card" on the US economy in recent weeks.

    Will people fall for it?

    Probably.

    Should we go back to "Freedom Fries"? (none / 0) (#3)
    by jbindc on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 10:18:11 AM EST


    Oh, just wait until (none / 0) (#4)
    by Radiowalla on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 10:23:39 AM EST
    Jerome a Paris gets ahold of him!  Pauvre Roger!

    He doesn't even ... (none / 0) (#5)
    by Robot Porter on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 10:26:07 AM EST
    know his French history:

    French frontiers have not shifted much in centuries

    People who were subjects of the first French Empire, the Second French Empire, and the French Colonial Empire would disagree.

    Mental State (none / 0) (#16)
    by squeaky on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 12:16:16 PM EST
    I think it was a metaphor. Americans are still hungry with a wild west mentality while the french have been sated ever since Catherine de' Medici taught them about eating really delicious food and eating it with a fork.

    Parent
    Tell that to Napoleon ... (none / 0) (#27)
    by Robot Porter on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 04:32:15 PM EST
    or Napolean the Third ... or ...

    Anyway ...

    Parent

    you forgot to include (none / 0) (#9)
    by cpinva on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 11:19:57 AM EST
    that he knows he doesn't want there to be two frances, if one is here. probably, it would dilute the value of the champaign region.

    i wouldn't be so quick to assume that, just because he says nothing about economics, he knows nothing (though that's a reasonable assumption), there may be more afoot here watson!

    possibly, he makes no mention of economics because that would kind of ruin his whole premise: that acting french, and nationalizing banks, will be the ruination of us all.

    what he would then have to mention is that france's economy wasn't in quite the total shambles that the bush administration left ours in; mitterand's was nationalization by decision, not by necessity. much like the war in iraq.

    once you put that in, it sort of takes the presumed sting out of the column. he'd have to write something else.

    Elle a de la veine, ta soeur! (none / 0) (#11)
    by Radiowalla on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 11:47:31 AM EST
    Living in Biot?  

    Dissing the French remains acceptable in most American circles, hélas!  Well, I hope you get to visit her often.

    WTF??? (none / 0) (#14)
    by kempis on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 11:59:06 AM EST
    That is all, just WTF???

    Cohen's column is too flimsy even to use as le  twa-lette pay-pair.

    A Refined Version of Limbaugh (none / 0) (#17)
    by squeaky on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 12:20:35 PM EST
    Kind of reminds me of some Russian émigré friends I have known.
    Many of them were right wing and thought anything that socialism was a slippery slope.

    America hasn't always lived (none / 0) (#18)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 12:22:30 PM EST
    at the new frontier, what is he smoking?  Share man, because most brainiacs on the subject of social evolution have millions of indicators that America's social evolutions tend to be one generation behind those of Old Crusty Useless Europe.

    Yes (none / 0) (#19)
    by squeaky on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 12:29:25 PM EST
    That is what he is worried about. He was born in England, lived most of his life in Europe, and moved her because is not as overdetermined, read socially evolved, as Europe.

    He obviously does not understand America, imo.

    Parent

    Village People (none / 0) (#21)
    by cal1942 on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 01:24:40 PM EST
    don't like the sound of words like nationalization.

    Sounds to me like Cohen is going along with the herd whether or not he understands.

    I also got two points (none / 0) (#33)
    by lentinel on Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 06:06:50 PM EST
    from Roger Cohen's column.

    1. He doesn't know anything about economics.
    2. He does not really love France.


    Turning French | 30 comments (30 topical)

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