Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
New finance minister Pierre Moscovici "should reassure the markets. The appointment of Laurent Fabius as foreign minister is interesting for other reasons. For one thing, he and Mr Hollande do not enjoy a happy relationship"
The French presidential election may be remembered not so much for Hollande's victory and the triumph of normalcy, but as the decisive step in populist parties' march to power. In the first round, one third of voters backed them
Hollande's unpretentious calm sits well. But in policy terms Berlin and Paris are far apart. "Mrs Merkel is ready to talk about growth, but not if it means reopening the fiscal compact and not if it will cost Germany billions"
"If the next government is unable to deal with this economic and social crisis, immigrants will clearly become scapegoats. We are not living in the 1930s, but we should not forget that worrying precedent"
Hollande says path of austerity carved out by Merkel is unsustainable. He'll come under pressure from Berlin to back down. But chaos in Greece helps him. Tacit alliance with Athens could get Germany to budge
"Hollande intends to shift France from the vestiges of its traditional (already part-dismantled) state capitalism to managed capitalism. The latter entails social dialogue, workplace democracy, long-term finance"
"The most pressing matter is Mr Hollande's plan to put growth at the centre of the eurozone stability effort. Huge hopes were raised by his victory." But his promises on both the deficit and spending leave little room for manoeuvre
People are fed up with policy of austerity that has become dogma across EU. But the election results in Greece and France weren't a move against European unity. They were instead a desperate plea for a change in direction
"It may surprise many to learn that the Socialist programme pledges to both decentralise and shrink state spending year-on-year, cut corporate taxation for companies that reinvest profits, and establish a national investment bank"
"France won’t fall from the cliff, nor will it shine brightly under the new regime." Hollande's constituency is made up of teachers and other public servants. Don't expect labour reform or support for innovation
Capitalism may not be perfect, but that's no reason to abandon it. Here's one major flaw that can be fixed: "The world’s productivity revolution is outpacing the political will of rich societies to fairly distribute its benefits"
Revisiting Jean Jaurès, figurehead of the French political left. Brilliant philosopher whose dogged determination, "physical politics" and powerful rhetoric made him the intellectual champion of socialism in early 20th century
They call themselves the Bana Danger, Momi Fiuu or Tokyo Girls. And they terrorise the estates in Paris or Nice where they live
"How can anyone govern a nation that has 246 different kinds of cheese?"
