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We are talking about economic policy here; hence "market". The crime rates I'm thinking of are "other regarding crimes";
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What do you mean by "other regarding crimes"?
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France has less violent crime by far, for example, than the U.S. does.
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You were the one who choose to put "libertarian" in the title, many believe that the majority of crime, and the majority of violent crime, in the US is due mostly to the effect of the drug policy. This is not a libertarian ideal. A discussion can be had on what policys are affecting crime rates more but to simply claim (or imply) that its solely economic policy is pretty dishonest.
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B) As Wilkinson and other medical researchers have shown, among the developed countries it is not the richest societies which have the best health, but those which have the smallest income differences between rich and poor Here is some reading for you
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obviously i can't address this as i haven't read the book, but it will go on the list.
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From my original source I have a 54.6% growth in per capita GDP in the US and a 50.5% growth in France from 1990 to 2002.
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The gdp of the US is currently and has historically been much higher than France. In 1999 (this isn't stats shopping its the easiest link i have availible [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]) the US had a gdp per capita of 31,500 to france's 22,600
link_1 . The GDP per capita in 1990: US 21,082 France, 14,600
link 2 While France increased its GDP by 55%, and the US by "only" 50% the US widened the gap in actual dollars earned by 37%. So even when france "outperformes" the US in GDP per capita growth they are still losing ground in dollars earned.
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Far more economic and job security.
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really? Job security?
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Do you know what job security means? It means not being fired from your job. This study is not about job security.
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No job security is also about being able to get a job, and includes being able to find a new job if you do lose your job (also included should be how easy it is to voluntarily switch jobs IMO). Unemployment in the US in 1999 was 4.5%, France 11.5%. As that study i linked showed it is about 4x more likely for an unemplyed person in the US to get a new job than it is for a person in France. Considering that there is 2.5 times the unemployment in France you end up with 10x the number of people who are long term unemployed, or around 3.6% in France and 0.36% in the US. Losing a job is much less painfull to a person who can more easily find a replacement. Are you saying this isn't an important aspect of job security?