Perhaps the French have something to teach Americans about economics, after all.

As the unemployment rate continues to climb, hitting a 26-year high in June, the U.S. government is struggling to roll out the massive economic stimulus package approved last winter. The French, as detailed in a New York Times story on Tuesday, have proven to be much quicker in launching "shovel ready’’ projects, job creators that haven’t been quite so ready in the U.S.

“America is six months behind; it has wasted a lot of time,’’ Patrick Devedjian, the minister in charge of the French stimulus, told the Times.

Devedjian also noted that the U.S. could end up spending most of its stimulus dollars after the economic crisis has passed. Which was one of the key points made by American critics of the stimulus when the package was approved in February.

Despite the slow implementation and so far limited success of the first plan, one of President Barack Obama’s top advisers on Tuesday said that another stimulus package might be necessary to pump up the economy. Laura Tyson, an outside economic adviser to the president, said in a speech in Singapore that a second package, this one focused on infrastructure projects, should be considered to blunt the surge in unemployment. Incredibly, Tyson also said that the initial $787 billion stimulus, the most expensive piece of legislation in the nation’s history, may have been a "bit too small.’’

Thankfully, the president has been cool to the idea of another stimulus, despite the unemployment rate climbing to 9.5 percent last month, well above the 8 percent peak forecast when the initial plan was approved. The exploding federal debt, triggered in part by the stimulus, poses one of the greatest long-term dangers to the nation’s economy, including a danger that the eventual recovery could be sunk by rapid inflation and high interest rates.

For now, the Obama administration should pour its energies into speeding distribution of the stimulus dollars. France plans to spend 75 percent of its stimulus money this year; the U.S. government isn’t projected to reach that mark until the fall 2010.

Whatever the wisdom behind the stimulus, and the economic validity of that tact remains suspect, it’s certain that the dollars will be spent. It’s critical then for the administration to ensure that the money is used when and where it can help the largest number of Americans as they suffer through the worst economy in seven decades.