What makes matters worse is that Bush may have been wrong to retreat. Even though it’s true that French workers put in an average of about 39.5 hours per week, not far behind the euro-zone average of 40.9 hours, blue-collar workers in France do have a 35-hour work week and must be given “rest days” if they work beyond it. French law also mandates five weeks of vacation.

The web of regulations around work in France are a national nightmare. Certainly, even elements of France’s Socialist government recognize the need for change. Last year, economics minister Emmanuel Macron declared that the 35-hour-work-week rule needed to change if the country were to have any hope of bringing unemployment below 10 percent. “We could allow companies and sectors . . . to depart from the rules on working time and pay,” he said.

He soon followed that up with tougher comments. “France is sick. It’s not well,” Macron declared. “There has been a fever for several years in this country which is called mass unemployment. . . . There is no choice but to . . . reform the economy.”