Is France going to the the next domino to fall as Eurozone implodes?

[puisseguin]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2013/05/25/does-france-have-right-plan-revive-its-economy/bDTJ1qcgF7oddGvbdFkMXK/story.html

 

PARIS — The man charged with reviving France’s shrinking economy and attracting businesses to invest here is gaining a reputation for doing the opposite.

 

As the country’s first-ever minister for industrial renewal, Arnaud Montebourg has told the world’s largest steelmaker it is not welcome in France; exchanged angry letters with the head of an US tire company he was supposedly wooing; scuttled Yahoo’s offer to buy the majority of a video-sharing site.

 

Montebourg, a 50-year-old lawyer from Burgundy, is the public face of President François Hollande’s plan to revitalize Europe’s second-largest economy, which is in recession and grappling with 11 percent unemployment. The plan is to make the French economy more competitive globally — especially for manufacturers — by making it easier to fire workers, offering a payroll tax credit, and investing in small businesses.

 

Economists have praised the labor reforms as a step in the right direction. But mostly they say France’s economic plan is all wrong: It is too complicated; it favors a top-down approach to innovation; and it ignores some of the most serious problems plaguing France’s economy, such as high labor costs.

 

And then there is Montebourg, whose public spats with international companies and efforts to block layoffs are making France look like an unappealing place to do business.

 

An object lesson in how not to revive a country in the grip of a downturn.

[Harleyman]

Hollande's taxation policy was madness from day one. The average French voter seemed to love it. Now they'll reap the harvest

[puisseguin]

Hollande's taxation policy was madness from day one. The average French voter seemed to love it. Now they'll reap the harvest

 

It's always going to be a vote winner telling the voters you will spend your way out of a slump by taxing the rich and lowering retirement age.

By the time the electorate discover it is a move towards disaster you are already in power with your snout in the trough.

[geared]

France aren't in real trouble yet, Italy were looking pretty wobbly last year - I dunno if things have improved there yet.

 

It's all been abit quiet, maybe things are slowly recovering?

[truman]

France aren't in real trouble yet, Italy were looking pretty wobbly last year - I dunno if things have improved there yet.

 

It's all been abit quiet, maybe things are slowly recovering?

 

That wouldn't make good news copy though would it? Doom and Gloom seem to sell..

[L00b]

maybe things are slowly recovering?

They're not in France, by a very long shot - I can tell you that much.

 

Italy would 'fall' before France, though. They can't rely on export-driving heavy industries like nuclear, rail and armaments with which France can still just about keep its nose above the waterline.

That wouldn't make good news copy though would it? Doom and Gloom seem to sell..

As regards France, I grab news from a variety of centre left (Le Nouvel Obs), centre right (Le Point), centre-centre (L'Express) and apolitical (Les Echos) weeklies to paint a full picture.

 

Save for political colouration (vastly toned down relative to the clear, outright bias in UK dailies à la Torygraph and Grauniad ), it's the same consistent picture. They're in a bad way.

[geared]

They can't rely on export-driving heavy industries like nuclear, rail and armaments with which France can still just about keep its nose above the waterline.

 

Well, unless they go-ahead and green light arms sales to Syrian rebels............

 

Now all they need is another couple of 'conflicts' around the world and they can really shift some gear.

[Shef_Fitness]

For the EU, I think the general plan will be

 

1) To bleed the working classes dry

 

2) The rich political elite to get huge pay/bonuses

 

Thats generally how the EU works

[L00b]

Well, unless they go-ahead and green light arms sales to Syrian rebels.

I doubt Syrian rebels are interested in FAMAS over AKs, in Rafales or in Exocets...it'd be small beer, man-portable missile systems (Mistral for anti-air; Milan for anti-tank). Not balance-of-payment winners by a long shot. Although the commissioner-payers (Saudis, not name them) might accomodate a 'risk premium' on the unit price, they can afford it

[El Cid]

It's always going to be a vote winner telling the voters you will spend your way out of a slump by taxing the rich and lowering retirement age. By the time the electorate discover it is a move towards disaster you are already in power with your snout in the trough.

 

The choice was François Hollande or Nicolas Sarkozy, not much to choose between them.