Sarkozy surrenders under Carla effect.

Eight months into the Sarkozy era, France has just said adieu to la rupture, the clean break that was supposed to end its bad old ways.

Unpopular and facing an electoral thrashing next month, Super Sarko surrendered last night to the nation's taxi drivers. It took only a day of protests in Paris and around the country for the President to take fright and and abandon a plan to break the closed shop which protects their trade.

You will remember from last month that the taxi reform was one of the most emblematic of the 317 ideas that Jacques Attali presented, at Sarkozy's request, for opening up the economy and "liberating growth". 

Taxis are a minor industry, employing only about 50,000. Three months ago, Sarkozy faced down a damaging week-long strike by the far bigger army of public transport workers. His capitulation, performed by François Fillon, the Prime Minister, follows the time-honoured French practice of caving when a special interest takes to the street. There is no longer any chance that reform will be visited on the other closed trades on the Attali list. These include pharmacists, hairdressers and the legal profession.   

The defeat means that Paris will continue to suffer one of the worst cab shortages of any world city. It also shows how much authority Sarkozy has lost since public opinion turned against him this winter.

Everyone, including ministers in his own government, are blaming his slump on "the Carla effect". This is short-hand for the disastrous impact of his glitzy romance with Carla Bruni while the country has been buried in gloom.

Polls show that about 70 percent have been turned off by Sarkozy's display of his exploits, which culminated in his private marriage to the millionaire supermodel on Saturday. No-one would care much if Sarko was managing to deliver on his campaign promises to raise incomes. He is suffering from the clash between the grim mood and his image of lavish self-indulgence.

With his approval ratings down around 45 percent, Sarkozy has lost the backing of core voters of the centre-right and his Union for a Popular Movement is ready for debacle in national city elections next month. One odd consequence is the reversal of the usual roles played by President and Prime Minister. France's appointed premiers are expected to take the heat when things go wrong, deflecting unpopularity from the President. This time, Fillon, an understated, steady manager, is basking in popularity, with ratings 11 points above those of his showman boss. "Thank heaven we've got Fillon," a parliamentarian told me as he mourned the end of the Sarko magic. 

Sarkozy's enemies in his own camp are sticking the knife in over the Carla show. Jean-Louis Debré, head of the Constitutional Council and a former cabinet rival, said: "He should be careful not to desanctify his official function. When you have been given a mission by the people, you have show a certain restraint."
   
The tattered Socialist opposition have also leaped on Sarkozy's troubles. François Hollande, their leader, called Sarkozy self-obsessed. "What characterises Nicolas Sarkozy is his constant movement, his egotism and his narcissism," he said.

The President's staff, under attack for usurping the power of ministers, are insisting that Sarkozy has got the message and is throwing himself into the job. "There might have been some confusion," said Claude Guéant, his chief-of-staff. "But now with the marriage everything will be clearer."

We'll see. There is little sign that the new first lady will bring peace. The soap opera is still stirring morbid fascination.  Le Nouvel Observateur, not usually a purveyor of gossip, has made the running over the past couple of days. Sarkozy's Achilles' heel is his dependence on women, it said, noting how he came off the rails after Cécilia walked out last November. It also reported what everyone suspects, that Sarko rushed into his romance to spite Cécilia.

A week before he married Bruni, Sarko sent an SMS message to his ex-wife, saying "If you come back, I'll cancel everything," according to le Nouvel Obs. She did not reply.   

Bruni is also hot in the publishing world. Three fast-written, gossip-packed books on the new first lady are out this week. All recount her prodigious roll-call of celebrity lovers. In one, she is quoted as saying that she had always sought a man with his finger on the nuclear button. In all the books she is depicted as fiercely independent and a self-confessed predator towards men. "I feel jubilation every time I leave a man," she is quoted as saying in "Chronicle of a dangerous liaison" by Paul-Eric Blanrue and Chris Laffaille.

Le Parisien today apologised to Bruni for saying earlier this week that she emerged from these portraits as une garce -- a bitch. "Au nom du journal, je la prie de bien vouloir accepter nos excuses (In the name of the newspaper I ask her kindly to accept our apologies)," wrote Vincent Régnier, the editor-in-chief. Sarko may soon be wishing for the decorum of the old days, when no-one would have dreamed of using such a term for la première dame de France.

Comments

[Doremi]

" l'adieu to la rupture" could also be not blaming the woman when things go wrong, because praise is rare when things go right.
If a man repeatably chooses a bad mate he should get the blame for his terrible taste in women.
Could we give the " things would be so great, if it wasn't for the woman" a needed rest. Adam had free will when he took a bite of the apple, his Mrs did not twisted his harm. Boy, I don't miss Catholic hang-ups and guilt.
No wonder Carla 1st left.

[Richard Huxley]

My dad always told me to steer clear of women like that...I did and got myself a cute Brittany girl! :)

Shame about the taxis...

[Rocket]

Although I highly agree that Sarkozy is and will continue to cave in to special interests and "la rupture" will lose its meaning over time and it will be business as usual, you have to consider the point of view of the cab drivers. Too much politics involved in every decision.

Firstly, the system of regimented taxis was ill conceived from the get go. (another French corporatism) Taxi licenses cost up to 200K€ nowadays and to open up the profession with a magic wand means that all of these taxi drivers lose their " fonds de commerce" au jour de lendemain" Because no more license necessary to drive a cab. Thus FREE!

Today you buy a taxi license for 200K€ tomorrow it's worth nothing.

If someone has other info on the above, please let me know. Or if I'm missing something.

Attali should have put something in his proposals that would at least have protected the investments the taxi drivers had made. That's what these people get payed for...to be coherent. He didn't even see that coming. Yes Mr. Attali, we're all just jealous of you. I haven't had time to pour through the proposals. Some seem to be very rudimlentary.

It's funny to watch these one time "étatists" trying to understand capitalism. Well I'm sorry but in capitalism there is protection of the individual also.

Yes Paris needs more taxis but the drivers also must get off their sorry asses and out of the cafés as they wave you off should you interrupt them if they are drinking coffee. (No more smoking in the cafés at least)

I once tried to get a taxi and the driver ("m'envoyé chier" because he was eating a sandwich in his car) "Je suis en coupure" he said.

I don't respect these people anymore than the next guy but to strip them of their resale value is very unfair.

First thing M. Sarkozy should do is open the stores on Sunday and stay tough and not cave in. Then he should seriously start to cut into the social charges that employers pay and (really) get rid of the fat in the administration except for Dominique because we like him. He should also set an example and stop the flashy rich boy crap and not promise that he going to increase purchasing power when he can't. (It's the market that controls that)

Read the articles that have come out today about the French deficit. the German exporters are running circles around the French. It's easy to understand with labor relations based on suspicion in France and deadly social charges and very very difficult firing procedures etc. This is a reeducation that will take a generation not six months.

All of these Western newspapers that were saying in summer that France was changing is crap. They know nothing about France.

Now Charles:

"she is quoted as saying that she had always sought a man with his finger on the nuclear button."

That may be her code word for G-spot

[Daisy]

The problem is now Sarkozy is weakened, he will overcompensate and become brutal and dictatorial.

[Edward Johns]

France caving in Charles? The very idea!

[Robert Marchenoir]

The very fact that superior minds are suggesting that having more taxis, hairdressers and notaries might be a significant step to boost the country's economy is cause for concern.

Yes, the fact that the number of taxis in Paris has practically not changed since 1937 is a scandal. Yes, the licence price is horrendous. Yes, restrictions should be lifted so that the number of taxis could be increased several times.

Yes, the fact that Sarkozy is caving in to a handful of people without so much as a fight is appalling.

Yes, pharmacists earn preposterously high revenues supported by the state health insurance system. Yes, this is sucking up resources in a very unefficient way.

Yes, notaries charges are too high and make buying a house unnecessarily expensive (but most of these are taxes, not fees).

I'm not even aware of the issue related to hairdressers. I'm sure their number can't be limited. I understand however that a professional degree is compulsory to open shop -- this seems rather reasonable to me, and justified by the fact that hair-dying products are very toxic.

However, if we expect a significant amount of increased employment to come from taxis, hairdressers, notaries or even nannies -- do not forget nannies, the so-called "services à la personne" which are all the rage at official level nowadays, this really means we are in dire straits.

Never mind biotech, information technology, clean fuel technology, drug research, e-commerce... give us more taxis, please, we are French.

[Andy]

I was obviously completely fooled by the Attali report: I thought that it was about making suggestions for what was needed to relaunch business, and not about explaining how in detail these bright ideas were to be implemented.

[Robert Marchenoir]

As for the technicalities about taxis, and Rocket's question. I have not read Attali's report. I understand however he wants to give free licences to the people who have already requested one and who are stuck in the queue.

It would not reduce to zero the value of other people's licenses, but obviously it would rip them off of a portion of the legitimate and legal investment they have made, and for which they are paying interest.

I do not think the Attali commission addressed that problem.

However, I have read a suggestion by an anonymous commentator on a blog which I find brilliant.

Instead of giving free licenses to people who don't have one, give them to already licensed taxis.

Do we want to treble the number of taxis? Very well then, let us give two free licenses to each license holder, with the right to sell it at whatever price he likes and the market will support.

Not everybody would sell their rights -- some people would refuse to open the market to their own competition -- but a significant number of licence holders would. After all, this is the equivalent of the government giving you the right to print money.

Present day taxi drivers would get compensated, we would get more taxis, and the state would not spend a single euro.

I can't see any catch to this. Does anyone?

[dot king]

"Adam had free will when he took a bite of the apple, his Mrs did not twisted his harm."
(DOREMI)
Agreed, but she sealed the fate of all women for centuries to come on that dreadful day when Eve got Adam's supper ready for him . . .

(Only) a little off-topic but this reminds me of a school-story. The 6ème teacher was doing a "texte fondateur" which happened to be the Adam and Eve Story. The passage started: "Le serpent s'est adressé à Eve."
Just that, not ". . . parce que . . .," just that bald statement.

Question 1: "Pourquoi le serpent s'est-il adressé à Eve?"
Reading the text gave no reason at all, simple statement as above.

Answer to question 1: (written on board to be copied by the whole class): "Le serpent s'est adressé à Eve parce qu'elle était naïve et crédule."
QQQQUUUUU-OIOIOIOI????

J'ai toujours préfére l'idée dans laquelle le serpent s'adresse à Eve (dans cette fiction) parce que le Diable lui aurait dit qu'Adam était faible de caractère et suivrait aveuglement la réglementation en vigueur, tandis qu'Eve, elle, était plus audacieuse et ouverte d'esprit.
Et toc!

Si vous êtes de bons enfants, je pourrais vous raconter la leçon qui avait pour texte fondateur "La Lapidation de la Femme Adultère" - at least it'd be on topic!

[stephen cloughley]

There's something very tawdry and a bit depressing about this turn of events. I think it says more about the state of leadership in our Western democracies than France per se.
I am a Francophile Irishman living in the US (strange enough, I know!). I see exactly the same likely to happen if Obama gets into power here. For Sarko's "rupture" read Obama's "change". Same thing likely to happen, but less pronounced, with Hillary.

[GAG]

Another cowardly French government. Are there any courageous politicians left in France ? Is this another example the spirit of 1940 ?
GAG

[john o'doe]

The knives are out.
It's been downhill since he had the stupifying ineptitude (and political crassness) to sneeringly declare "qu'est-ce que vous voulez que je fasse, les caisses sont vides". From that moment it was clear for all to see that the emporer has no clothes.

[Rocket]

Robert

"Instead of giving free licenses to people who don't have one, give them to already licensed taxis."

Two problems in my mind with that

One - les ententes de prix entre chauffers au niveau de prix. (price fixing)I fear they would want to pay off their loans (for the license) in one clean swoop and sell at high price, unaffordable. (Not to free market IMHO) The spirit of the law should be to phase out the license not disguise it.

Two - License hoarding until prices drive it up by another 25 - 30%. It then becomes a bidding war and nothing is resolved. These taxi drivers are not the most entrepreneurial horde in the world. They can continue to live on what they earn now.

How about.

a tax credit for the price they paid for the license over 5 - 10 years in the form of income tax reduction, detax carburant and lowering of social charges etc. Each driver has an account to follow the evolution of their deductions. The resale of their license becomes then a dead letter and you can create all of the taxis you want. FREE

Unfortunately the system in France has always had protected professions after the war so you reap what you sow. The gov't (Was that Degaulle's idea, les corporatismes?) got everyone into this sh*t in the first place with that mentality and now they have to pay and get everyone out of it. Then we can practice capitalism in France rather than socialism. That's the price when you go from Socialistic mentality to free market

If someone can turn me on to how all of this corporatism got started in France and when, I would appreciate it.

[Rocket]

GAG

Read my first post.

John

"qu'est-ce que vous voulez que je fasse, les caisses sont vides".

I think he meant

"qu'est-ce que vous voulez que je fasse, mes bourses sont vides".

[Doremi]

Sunday big shops opening is overrated.
In the UK, the day once set for worship, spiritual nourishment and family/ friends / community life has been set aside for yet another day to buy stuff you don't really need and doing your bit for the economy. The total UK personal debt has hit £1.4 trillion at the end of November 2007. Credit is good, up to a point.

[Joan Arles]

It's truly amazing that Sarko folded just like that. After all those lyrical promises, he does not even resist the vested interest protestors as much as Chirac and Villepin and all the rest of them. Sarkozy must really be losing it. I have a bad feeling about all the Bruni business.

[Doremi]

Dot King,

Mrs did not twisted his harm."

Freudian slip, it should have been arm. The harm was on us.
I was sparred " catech" yet I still got told woman is to blame for the guy's downfall by my mother, who still call certain outfits " appel au viol". "Les hommes sont des faibles tu sais ma fille".

[Rocket]

Frenchman on the shuttle tonight. Leopld Eyharts. Once my student

Go Leo Go!

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/live_tv.html

[Sam Young]

I stated the following in this blog on Jan 22 (under "Bad time for French market lessons"):
"...Who seriously believes that the taxi industry will be liberalized?..."
Naturally, i would like to flatter myself that i am some sort of prescient seer. But of course, in reality, it was entirely predictable.
Frankly, would even Chirac have caved in so quickly? NS is going to end up a figure of derision for right-wingers (like myself and readers of the Le Figaro whose online comments yesterday left one in no doubt) and left-wingers.
By a delightful coincidence the "Cour des Comptes" (which audits the State accounts)reached the same conclusion this year as last year (and next year, and etc.); namely, that the State have no managerial sense and waste billions each year.
As Cromwell might have said to the French economy: "Sink, for the love of God, Sink".

[dot king]

This couple are a pair of "m'as-tu vu" exhibitionists - as shallow as can be imagined under the gloss, I'm afraid.
He wanted power, she wanted a man with power, they've each got what they wanted. End of story I think.

[dot king]

"yet I still got told woman is to blame for the guy's downfall by my mother," (doremi)

yeh, me too, with the difference that i didn't believe it, even then

[Daniel Strohl]

Charles,

""If you come back, I'll cancel everything," according to le Nouvel Obs."

Charles, do you by (mal)chance hold le Nouvel Obs for le Nouveau Testament? - LOL!

What strikes me with our various journalists is that they make a big fuss with "la saga de Sarkozy et Carla" and almost nobody bothers to speak about some apparently unimportant matters like le traité européen, le déficit commercial record and so on.

PS : a few days ago, I got a subscription offer from le Nouvel Obs. Due to some strange premonition, I threw it right away in the dust bin. Normally, I have no problem to read papers whose ideas are not the same as mine.

[Sam Young]

To Robert Marchenoir:
I think the situation in France as regards hairdressers is:
You have the "CAP" = Certificat d’aptitude professionnelle.
And then you have the BP: Brevet professionnel.
The BP is equal to a 2-year post CAP degree completed through apprenticeship or continuing education.
At the moment, you need to have a BP to open shop as a hairdresser. Attali wants to allow CAP holders to be able to open shop without having to get a BP.

Disclaimer: as far as i am aware.

[Valentin]

Some people even go as far as to compare the French presidential couple with the Kennedies.
It had been already done when Cécilia was First Lady, it is so much more now that Carla is as glamour as Jackie Kennedy was at the time.
Others don't go as far back in time and limit to comparing Carla with our dear Lady Di, whose taste for media exposure has also been famous.

Given the worldwide approval and fine image both Jackie and Diana enjoyed (despite their rather.. uhm.. shacky love lifes :) ),
well, I find those comparisons quite flattering.

[Valentin]

According to the French daily Le Monde, president Sarkozy has filed a complaint with the criminal court against the website Nouvel Obs for use of fake information.

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/depeches/0,14-0,39-34228687@7-37,0.html

The good side is that this will give the newspaper an opportunity to prove the SMS message was real. The bad side: this is likely to bring us yet more Sarko posts from CB.
Oh well. Life.

[Very interesting Valentin. Sarko is the first president of the fifth republic to take legal action against the press. The others were above it. I agree, it will be fun to see the Nouvel Obs producing the evidence for its story. In the meantime, I'm off to the Cevennes for the weekend. CB]

[Valentin]

It seems the news about Sarko "surrendering" have been somewhat exaggerated.
According to this story from the JDD magazine, the Attali report is not yet in the dustbin, and the president declared his will to reform the regulated trades.

http://www.lejdd.fr/cmc/societe/20086/taxis-quiproquo-avec-l-elysee_93153.html

"Une réunion lors de laquelle le chef de l'Etat a, selon son porte-parole David Martinon, rappelé la nécessité de réformer la profession. "Les taxis ne seront pas spoliés, mais il faut se réformer", a-t-il ainsi déclaré.
Dans un communiqué diffusé peu après cette rencontre, l'Elysée insiste sur cette volonté de réforme, précisant que sont toujours "sur la table" des discussions "les propositions formulées par la commission" Attali. "

[Valentin]

I would say Sarkozy's legal action is less "against the press" and more against gossip trespassing any common sense (as well as legal) limits.
It was refreshing to see Philippe Val (of the weekly Charlie Hebdo) and everybody else on iTele NPPDM show yesterday evening agreeing that that (publishing the sms story) is just not done.

Well then, enjoy your Cevennes weekend ! :)

[concedo nulli]

I once was shown a copy of a very thick book which wanted to prove that the downfall of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette was engineered with a lot of help from Engand. I never bothered to read it. Why do the non-French people on this blog get so excited about things French? Now woman's power in France is resented. I, for one, believe it's due to a series of historical circumstances rather than to the teachings of the Church. Catherine de Médicis, Marie de Médicis, Mme de Maintenon, Mme de Pompadour, Marie-Antoinette, they all attracted hatred because they wielded power. The one tremendous and lasting "rupture" would have been for Segolene Royal to be elected. What can a President vulnerable to women hope to achieve in a country where women are loathed. That may be why his predecessors hid their lady-loves, and also because being "pure French" they felt so arrogantly superior to womenfolk. Again I maintain this has little to do with the teachings of the Church. The French, anyway, have been estranged from Roman Catholicism for generations and so on and so on. In the last analysis I like NS because he is like me a "petit français de sang mêlé" who would so much like to get rid of what is horrid in the French inheritance.

[EYGH]

Rocket,

"Read the articles that have come out today about the French deficit. the German exporters are running circles around the French. It's easy to understand with labor relations based on suspicion in France and deadly social charges and very very difficult firing procedures etc. This is a reeducation that will take a generation not six months"

German exporters are running circles around a lot of people. Congrats to them.

Contrary to what you write, I believe that German workers are pretty protected (more like in France than in the US).

One thing is sure, if there are economical clues to be taken by our elites there are in Germany rather than in the UK or the US.

Sam Young,

"As Cromwell might have said to the French economy: "Sink, for the love of God, Sink"."

If France's economy is sinking it is doing so in "good" company. UK and US trade and budget deficits numbers anyone ?

[Daniel Strohl]

Doremi,

"The total UK personal debt has hit £1.4 trillion at the end of November 2007. Credit is good, up to a point".

Do you know the figure for the total French personal debt ? It would be interesting to make a comparison. Our debt is probably (and hopefully) lower, but I may be wrong.

The whole economy is built on credit and lives with credit - and probably with much too much of it. But it is difficult to slow down - it is not easy either to brake (successfully!) on black ice ...

[Daniel Strohl]

Rocket,

"Leopld Eyharts. Once my student"

Congratulations, Rocket! I did hear Leopold saying a few words in English this evening on TV. But of course, and as usual, one heard almost only the translation.

If the TV or radio people were a little bit more intelligent, they would let the listeners hear at least one full original sentence - the voice of a person is almost as important as his or her face if one wants to have an idea about his or her personality.

[Marguerite.]

Il etait drole le slogan que criaient les chauffeurs de taxis pendant la manifestation "Attali, reste dans ton lit. Sarko, pas dans mon tacot".
J'aurais bien aime que Paris devienne, comme Londres, New York ou Tokyo, une ville ou l'on attrape un taxi au vol des qu'on en a besoin. Dommage que Sarko ait capitule !

[christopher muir]

Could it be that in a year's time, Sarkozy - during a valedictory speech - will echo Gorbachev's words: "My life's work has been accomplished. I did all that I could."

[Emlyn]

The French, as usual, are unable to make any sort of communal effort in a crisis and blame anyone - the government, the President or their neighbours - except themselves. In any case, most French people live very nicely, thank you very much: the shortest working hours and the longest holidays in the Norhtern hemisphere (in the world?) and as long as their pockets and bellies are full they don't give a dam for the rest.

[EYGH]

Re French economy history

An interesting and serious analysis that you won't find in supposedly specialised competent press oulets (anglo or French ones) :

France vs UK :

http://www.eurotrib.com/story/2007/9/10/9417/13559

France vs Germany :

http://www.eurotrib.com/story/2007/12/3/9556/37757

One thing is sure, Germans know better.

Despite their very good export numbers they are not the ones to constantly bash the French economy.

As a French citizen, I'm pretty worried at the apparent ignorance of too many of our political/economical elites who ignore French economical realities (strengths and weaknesses) and are so taken with the anglo-american (or whatever) models.

As an aside and to go back to the taxi crisis, I'm surprised that nobody has remarked on the fact that French corporatism is a rather right leaning phenomenon in France. That may explain Sarko's apparent "reculade" before the "élections municipales".

I'll try to find comparative figures on consummer's debt.

[dot king]

Concerning the press "first" - this pursuing of the Nouvel Obs over the alleged SMS - a radio chroniqueur has just observed: "j'annule tout"
mais qu'est-ce qu'il veut dire par "tout"?

[Pierre Bernardi]

On the front page of today's lefigaro.fr, Sarkozy "denies" his obsession with Cecilia, the government "denies" Christine Lagarde's decision to retire and the army "denies" taking part in the fighting in Tchad. That's an awful lot of denial.

What next:
- Taxis "deny" refusing to take passengers
- Soc Gén "denies" carelessness
- Zoe's Ark "denies" the children it tried to bring out were under 16
- Alstom "denies" its new TGV has a big nose?

[Doremi]

dot king

I believed until I read Freud and later Karen Horney and Camille Paglia.

Daniel Strohl

From what I have read private debt is 40% of the GDP (€bn 1,794 2006) from 26% to 40% in 12 years but the state's is 63%. And it's not even people wanting the latest Ipod or a holiday in Ibiza, for plenty it's just to eat.

[richard jones]

The moment that monument to the petty corruption of marble halls in a development bank that did no development - Jacques Attali (he must have one over the vulpine Mitterand to have got the job - for which Pohl was a candidate) - re-enters government you know for sure that things are going down the tubes. I want to hear what Sarkozy wants to do not some one-eyed socialist misfit.
I want to see a 'doable' plan from Sarkozy for which he can be held accountable not some plan that implicitly carries someone else to blame. I want to see France come clean on SocGen and admit they let other 'bourses' pay for their own ENArque ineptitude.
I want to see France behave like a true EU member and not inhibit anybody at all from taking over SocGen - or stop taking over other countries assets.
I want to see France reform not France deform which is all that is happening now. 6 more months of this and France will be worse than the Chiraquian Middle Ages.
Bruni is not mentioned because she has nothing to do with it, Sarko was elected to do a job she wasn't.

[Pierre Bernardi]

EYGH, my sole criticism (as some will remember) is a comparison based on PPP: "le PIB par tête est passé de 78% à 72% de celui des américains sur la période, en moyenne". If you use current exchange rates (real money, in other words, not someone's estimate of what a coke costs at the Closerie des Lilas, or how many burgers you need a day to survive), you get 80% in 2006 (France: €28,1k vs US: €35,1k), at an average exchange rate of €1=$1,25.

[EYGH]

Very interesting article (in French) on the debt in France :

http://www.lyc-arsonval-brive.ac-limoges.fr/secosoc/article.php3?id_article=367

[Daniel Strohl]

Doremi,

Thanks for the info. I was aware of the 63 % state debt, but had no clear idea of the private debt.

We don't contribute to the latter - I don't own an Ipod (even an ancient one!) and regarding holiday, we stay in France, if we go on holiday - may be 10 days in the last 30 months.

More seriously : most elderly people like myself still have the reflex to spend money for non indispensable items only if it has been spared in advance - no credit. Of course, this is no good for modern "economy".

Eygh,

Interesting links indeed. I will have a thorough look at them.

[Rocket]

Daniel

You are not elderly

Pour moi t'es éternellement jeune

[Guillaume]

I'm laughing loudly about all those ppl comparing Sarko to Thatcher when he was elected.
Well, far from it...As usually nothing changes: street (and corporatism in a broad sense) ordered, governement caves in shamely...That is "le changement dans la continuité"!!!

[Rocket]

Bah! Humbug!

France's national debt is small potatoes. Anyone want to see a debt that has real balls?

http://www.babylontoday.com/national_debt_clock.htm

That's 9 trillion! and growing as you watch!

[Barrie Garfinkel]

Isn't this what the French do best?
They back down.......
Capitulate ..........
Surrender ...........
All the same.

[Daniel Strohl]

Guillaume,

"governement caves in shamely..."

May be they will "cave out" (energetically) after the élections municipales...

Rocket,

"Pour moi t'es éternellement jeune"

Thanks for the compliment! Aujourd'hui, nous avons invité des amis (et anciens voisins) à déjeuner. Nous sommes huit en tout - l'âge des convives va de 64 à 80 ans. On ne peut pas parler de "Jeune Garde" - LOL !

[Daniel Strohl]

Andy,

"and not about explaining how in detail..."

And if one looks closer at details, one is likely to find there some gross errors - for instance, there are really many hairdressers everywhere; many of them are already more or less out of business due to lack of customers able to pay.

[Charles Berliner]

Can middle-aged mademoiselles turn into moral creatures overnight? To quote Madonna in her year of marriage, "I've gone through all my sexual rebellion and don't need to do it any more.” And here’s a better one: “I thank God every day that I married a man who made me think.” Well, Guy Ritchie may not be in the Raphael Enthoven class--but you know the case of the quarterback who looked like a rocket scientist to Jessica Simpson. ('The French President's Woman' at www.roughgang.com)

[Valentin]

"You are not elderly"

... says Rocket, who's dangerously close of the age of 60 himself ! :D

Barrie,

if you're american, I will remind you the shameful end of the Vietnam war, and how China threw the US out of the south-east Asia.
If you're English, you may recall the equally shameful affair of the Suez, where the proud Empire was shown his true place in the world: a small island at the extreme corner of the Eurasian continent.