Well ... the latest _Economist_ shows the French unemployment rate at 10% (BBC actually sez a little higher).  Germany, on the other hand (the country an economy that Krugman routinely sneers at) has an unemployment rate near 4%.  

That pretty much settles the argument for me.  The French have rarely had the unemployment rate down to 8.5% at any time over the last 25 years - something for us to consider when we look at the costs of all those 'free' government services (one person in ten can't find a job!)  :-/

I'm sure we've tilled this ground before.  Let me check the archives for the Krugman column that had a Frenchman comment on it.