US salaries in general are inflated and not entirely indicative of actual spending power. They have a lot more ancillary costs like healthcare and other insurances, not to mention a significant lack of public transport means most people also need to pay for a car and gas and whatnot.

Add to that the fact that they get fuck all for vacation time meaning if they want time off, it costs their salary for the missed days. I think when you weigh it all out, it balances pretty evenly, if not somewhat in France's favour.

In the US you do not even need to pay the interns. >!Not agreeing with this!<