Resumen de Language economics: A case study of French
Neil B. Ridler, Suzanne Pons-Ridler
Languages face competition and are thus subject to market economic analysis. If languages are treated as consumer goods their demand and supply can be illustrated with graphs, which can be useful for evaluating government intervention in that market. If languages are an investment they will have a yield, which in turn will determine the language ‘purchased’. This paper uses simple (non‐technical) economic analysis to describe the market for French as an international language, and as an official language of Canada. Both internationally, and within Canada, French is threatened by English; and this has prompted government intervention. The paper speculates that unless demand can be influenced, supply‐side policies alone will be ineffective—this is at present the situation of French as an international language. Within Canada the federal and provincial governments are able to influence demand; the result has been to increase the yield of, and demand for, French. Such language policies are not costless, but so far little attention has been paid to the economic and social costs.
