US and France: two faces of the stimulus

The financial crisis has hit many countries baldly but what made the difference among then was the way they reacted to it. Stimulus has been the word widely used by governments to show how they were going to fight such a crisis. That meant money and in some cases a lot of money. Some countries have been more conservatives than others about the amount and use of their stimulus wary of getting themselves in debt, and all have used different ways and timetables for this allotted money to bring a positive change in their economies. Let us take two countries: the United States and France. In the US after allotting $787 billion in a so-called American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, there is talk that it was not enough and maybe a second stimulus is needed. There is also talk that a lot of time has been wasted and instead of the money being used now the Obama administration is giving itself until fall 2010 to lay out that big a share of the American expenditure. The result is unemployment increasing as not enough new projects being started.
In France, while the stimulus was much smaller to fit a much smaller country also, the French government is using the $37 billion stimulus program already. This summer, tourists to the country’s best known landmarks, such as the palaces of Fontainebleau and Versailles, can see it at work when they mingle during their visits with the stonemasons and restoration experts giving a needed face-lift to these monuments.
Also new museums are created in other cities of France. All this, while creating new jobs, beautifies the country and makes needed restoration to their cultural patrimony. At the same time, there is an increase in the projects more mundane such as fixing potholes, upgrading railroads and other similar projects. There appears to be a desire not to wait but to act now. Something which seems quite American, while in the US the reaction has been more slow as one would have expected of the ‘old’ Europe.