Free Republic

A failed plan to tax the rich at 75 percent. A glaring lack of global competitiveness. Famous actors trading in their French citizenship for Russian to avoid paying high tax rates. The news from Paris as of late has been a bit sensational, but also dire. Could France be the first northern country in the European Union to confront potential economic demise in 2013? Perhaps that assessment is not unlike Gerard Depardieu's highly publicized Moscow defection—a bit dramatic. But according to recent economic figures, there is some cause for concern. The French economy—Europe's second largest—grew at just 0.1 percent in...

In the midst of the economic crisis, France’s Socialists are denying reality. The minister of industrial renewal is calling for nationalization of some industries, while the president shies away from necessary structural reforms. Business leaders fear the clock has been turned back 30 years. … France’s business leaders felt as if they had been set back 30 years, to a time when the first Socialist president of the Fifth Republic, François Mitterrand, began his term with a wave of nationalizations and, after two years, was forced to reverse his policy. Some even drew a comparison with 1945, when the government...

French government to rescue mortgage lender CIF France’s government plans to intervene to rescue Credit Immobilier de France after the struggling mortgage lender was hit by a liquidity crisis following a recent downgrade by credit rating agency Moody’s, Le Figaro newspaper reported Saturday. CIF’s board met Friday night and formally demanded government help, the newspaper said, without naming its sources. The lender, which has about 300 branches throughout France, did not return a phone call seeking comment. The government was not available for comment. As a condition of a state guarantee backing the group, the government demanded the resignation of...

(Reuters) - The euro tanked on Monday, breaking below its well-worn range from the past three months against the dollar after elections in Greece and France raised fresh concerns that the euro zone's hard-earned bailout and austerity steps could fall apart. In particular, the apparent failure of two pro-bailout ruling parties in Greece to win a majority in the parliament is throwing the future of the bailout scheme for the country into doubt. With 95 percent of votes counted, the conservative New Democracy (ND) and socialist PASOK, who have dominated Greece for decades, is seen falling short of the 151-seat...

The stunning victory of the French Socialists and wipe-out of mainstream parties in Greece sent shock waves on Sunday night crashing throughout the continent of Europe. Supporters of Socialist Francois Hollande celebrate in Paris François Hollande's election threws down the gauntlet to Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, who has railroaded the eurozone into agreeing a new "fiskalpakt" treaty enshrining Germany's austerity doctrine. The economic doctrine of austerity, to cut the burden of state spending to free up the economy, has ruled supreme with the support all of Europe's leaders, the European Union and financial markets. But political leaders were on...

Europe was plunged into fresh economic chaos last night as France rejected austerity and elected a tax-and-spend socialist president. Nicolas Sarkozy suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Francois Hollande, who ran on a platform of tearing up last December’s controversial deal to save the euro from oblivion. The inexperienced Mr Hollande is now seeking talks with the European Central Bank and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to demand further borrowing to boost growth. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2140427/Francois-Hollande-victory-French-presidential-election-spell-disaster-Euro.html#ixzz1u8xkQvsA

France May Have Elected François Hollande, But She Really Needs A Napoleon Bonaparte By Tim Stanley May 6th, 2012 Hollande is the latest in a long line of French politicians to exploit the mob. It looks like Socialist François Hollande has won the French presidency. His platform: raise taxes on business to fund a lower retirement age and more spending. Things don’t look good for poor old France. Either Hollande will stick to his promises and ruin the economy or he’ll U-turn and reveal himself to be a reckless opportunist. Whether he's a fool or a knave, this election cycle...

Financial markets are braced for a radical shift in economic policy and fresh question marks over a eurozone break-up, as Francois Hollande moves into the Elysee Palace on Monday as the first Socialist president of France for 30 years. Mr Hollande's 'farewell to austerity' programme combines taxing the rich, raising public spending and lowering the retirement age. A confrontation between the new president and Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, is also high on the markets' worry list. However leading economists believe Mr Hollande will attempt a damage limitation exercise to avoid increasing turmoil in a eurozone facing further upheavals, with result...

The mainstream media will attempt to spin French President Nicholas Sarkozy's loss today to Socialist challenger François Hollande as a rejection of "austerity" policies--and to urge American voters to reject the deficit-cutting politics of the Tea Party when we go to the polls in November. In fact, there are important lessons from France--and they are the precise opposite of what the media is telling us. First, to call Sarkozy's policies "austerity" is to insult both austerity and socialism. The French government--like other European governments--sought to close its budget gap primarily by raising taxes, not by cutting the size and cost...

Fears of a Leftist lurch have been in the price for weeks. The CAC-40 index of French stocks has underperformed Germany’s DAX by 20pc since last August, an ominous divergence for two countries yoked so tightly together. The yield spread of German 10-year Bunds over French OAT bonds has jumped 90 basis points. It reflects a gut feeling in global markets that France is sliding into deep trouble, clinging to a ruinously expensive social model in a Teutonic monetary union and a Chinese trading world. French economists say the moment of danger will come later this summer - whoever is...

Francois Hollande defeated French President Nicolas Sarkozy as voters handed control of the second-biggest European economy to the Socialists for the first time in 17 years. Socialist Hollande’s simple solutions include: =Taxes *Impose a tax on financial transactions. *Impose a 75 percent income tax on earnings above 1 million euros ($1.32 million) and raise the rate to 45 percent for the income bracket between 150,000 euros and 1 million euros per year. *Repeal 29 billion euros of tax breaks over the next five years. *Increase total tax level to 46.9 percent in 2017 from 45.1 percent in 2012 (payroll and...

France chooses a new president during tough timesBy GREG KELLER | Associated Press – 4 mins 30 secs ago PARIS (AP) — France voted in a presidential run-off election on Sunday that could see Socialist challenger Francois Hollande defeat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy by capitalizing on public anger over the government's austerity policies. The election outcome will impact efforts to fight France's debt crisis, how long the nation's troops stay in Afghanistan and how France exercises its military and diplomatic muscle around the world. Hollande voted in his electoral fief of Tulle, in central France. Live television coverage showed the 57-year-old...

Socialist Francois Hollande has been elected as France's new president, early estimates say. He got about 52% of votes in Sunday's run-off, according to projections based on partial results, against 48% for centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy. Mr Hollande would be the first French socialist president since 1995.

French Socialist Francois Hollande appeared headed to victory over President Nicolas Sarkozy, according to exit polls of voters released by Swiss and Belgian news media. Those polls showed Hollande with 52 to 53 percent of the vote in an election that turned on solutions for Europe's economic crisis amid record unemployment in France. French voters were still headed to cast their ballots when the exit polls were released in the early evening _ the results of exit polls cannot be published in France until voting ends at 8 p.m., 2 p.m. Eastern _ but the outcome seemed all but certain.