I think the argument is that cheaper books might make you more affluent in the sense that you'll have more money, while at the same time promoting a competitive work culture in which it's not possible to use that money to buy time off. In the U.S. I can't trade my money for more vacation. My job is all or nothing. If what I value is time off then what good is money if I can't use it to purchase time off?

In France we are trying to manage those shops and this heritage. I don't say that we succeed (because now those shops are mostly franchises form mains brands, banks, assurances ans real estates, who price out independent shops), but at least we try something. We have a big problem: we know what we don't want but we have to invent what we want and the route there.

For example in France, Carrefour ( the french walmart ) used dumping for a few decades, destroying any competition, then slowly increased its prices. Logically, competition should emerge but Carrefour is so entrenched into the infrastructure of the market that a competitor cannot really survive. This is a simplification (the french market is more an oligopoly than a monopoly) but the overall scheme is true.

Amazon may or may not have one of these effects. I don't (yet) know or more precisely I don't have enough info to have an opinion.

It would be interesting to hear the point of view of people that worked for the same company both in France and the US.

In my opinion, one problem in France is that many (well-paid) jobs are in Paris where housing is getting increasingly expensive. Besides, the layout of the city is such that commuting can be a pain and maybe unavoidable. I think New York is much better from that point of view.

I'm curious, is it possible to negotiate 10 weeks vacations in an american company?

You cannot do that for any kind of normal job, no. Maybe you could negotiate 3 weeks at most.

Also a 45 hour work week is now accepted as normal.

Of course, salary is then lower than in the US.

I, unfortunately, do not fit into any of these categories, as much as I would love to move to France. I'm here now, but only for a year :(

It's sad Schengen Area[1] does not cross oceans...

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area

Also, France really needs to stop deporting Romani people.

Frankly, you're amazingly privileged being black in France compared to being an Arab or a Romani.