In the case of France, things get complicated because national champions must remain under the control of the state.
That limits how much cash can be raised through privatizing the assets of state-owned companies. Not a lot of it.
The dirigiste sector of the national economy is extensive in places like France, Russia and China and to a lesser extent in the UK and Germany.
Shovel ready, eh? Snort. Sounds like a slush fund. Where's that money really going?
Loi PACTE : favoriser les entrepreneurs politiques, pour le meilleur et pour le pire
Deck chairs? Titanic?
To avoid putting further strain on the already stretched public finances, the government will finance the plan by selling stakes in the roughly 80 French companies owned partly or entirely by the state. Are they going to try capitalism?
I’ll give them $500,000 for Versailles...