A small notice appeared in Le Monde (August 24th) last week under the title “Le label LIR accordé à 58 nouvelles librairies” (LIR status given to another 58 bookshops). What is LIR? The capitals stand for Librairie indépendante de réference (independent bookshop of reference) and those who qualify for the distinction benefit by qualifiying for exemption from certain taxes (“contribution économique territorial”). The number of French bookshops currently benefiting from this statue is 464.

The measure is, of course, a blatant interference with the laws of the market, which dictate that the state will keep out of what does not concern it and the consumer will benefit by the increasing competition in the market forcing down prices. The backward French have limited discounting to a maximum of 5 per cent, with the effect that, while huge (and somewhat antiseptic) FNAC stores can be found everywhere, there are still plenty of small and characterful bookshops whose eccentric owners somehow manage to keep their heads above water and attract a loyal clientele. Oh yes, and in uncompetitive France paperback books (that is to say livres de poche) tend to cost a little more than half what their equivalents cost in Britain and Ireland.