????美國輪胎企業的一位籍籍無名的高管在一封書信中對法國工人的生產效率表示質疑，引發的強烈反應已經迅速地從笑料轉化成了難題。相對于在全國展開討論來分析高管觀點的可取之處，盲目的民族主義壓倒了理性思考，使它演變為一個國際性事件。

????盡管Titan公司（TWI）外號“灰熊”（the Grizz）的首席執行官毛里斯?泰勒在致法國官員的信中使用了明顯帶有煽動性的措辭，然而這些措辭也包含了一個令人不快且讓人難以面對的真相，的確，法國制造業基地及其整體經濟的競爭力已經退化到了危險的邊緣。如果法國仍然希望回歸強勢經濟，那么國家有必要迅速推出強硬的勞工改革措施。

????上周四，法國報紙義憤填膺地抨擊了這位膽敢詆毀“偉大法蘭西共和國”經濟聲譽的“丑陋美國人”。法國工業部長阿諾德?蒙特伯格稱，泰勒的信“荒唐不堪”，而且它也顯示了寫信人對法國經濟的“一無所知”。泰勒在信中用彩色油筆向法國官員標注了他為什么不愿重回談判桌商談收購一家法國北部問題輪胎工廠的原因。

????固特異（Goodyear）輪胎工廠是泰勒此信中的主角，該工廠工會代表邁克?沃曼表示，此人“不應在跨國公司任職，而應該被關進瘋人院。”即將上任的法國總工會（CGT）負責人西里?雷帕昂表示：“光有部長回應是不夠的，法國總統也必須出面為自己的國民要求尊重。”

??? 泰勒在他的信中寫道，他不至于傻到按照蒙特伯格的要求重回談判桌去收購固特異亞眠工廠，因為他認為這些接受總工會領導的工廠工人既固執、又不肯努力工作。他還說，如果法國不能徹底變革勞工市場，那么法國就有丟掉其工業基地的風險。他寫道，法國最大的輪胎制造商、國家明星公司之一的米其林（Michelin）可能會在5年之內因不利的勞工環境而將所有生產線搬出法國。

????The explosive reaction in France to a letter penned by a little-known U.S. tire executive, which questioned the productivity of French workers, has quickly gone from comical to troubling. Instead of opening a discussion in the country as to the possible merits of the executive's views, blind nationalism overtook rational thought, creating an international incident.

????While the words used by Titan (TWI) chief executive Maurice "the Grizz" Taylor in his letter to a French official were clearly inflammatory, they contained an uncomfortable and inconvenient truth that France's manufacturing base, indeed, its economy as a whole, has become dangerously uncompetitive. The country needs to quickly make some tough labor reforms if it ever intends on getting back on solid economic ground.

????Newspapers in France had a field day on Thursday bashing the "ugly American" who dared insult the economic integrity of "the great French Republic." France's industry minister, Arnaud Montebourg, said that Taylor's letter, in which he colorfully spells out to French officials why he would not return to the negotiating table to acquire a troubled tire plant in northern France, as "ridiculous," and that it displayed a "perfect ignorance" of the French economy.

????Mickael Wamen, the trade union representative of the Goodyear (GT) tire plant at the center of Taylor's missive, said that he "belongs more in an insane asylum than at the head of a multinational corporation." Thierry Lepaon, the incoming head of the CGT union for France noted, "It's not the response of a minister that is necessary, but of the president of the Republic, who must demand respect for the citizens of his country."

????In his letter, Taylor noted that he was not "stupid" enough to reenter negotiations to acquire the Goodyear plant in Amiens, as requested by Montebourg, because he believed that the plant's workforce, led by the CGT union, was intransigent and didn't work hard enough. He went on to say that France risked losing its industrial base if it fails to shake up its labor market. He noted that Michelin, the largest tire maker in France and one of its national champion companies, would probably move all of its production out of the country within five years due to the hostile labor environment.