political scientist, France country expert
Economic success would be necessary for President François Hollande to reduce unemployment and to legitimate his 2017’s re-election bid (and people also want that growth badly – for obvious reasons). But outstanding economic growth remains a mere dream. As it recently turned out, GDP growth (on a year-on-year basis) was exactly zero in the second quarter, while tourism is also Read More …
The 4th social conference of the Hollande presidency took place at the beginning of this week. While it is safe to say that policy-wise there is nothing major to report on (a minor Labor Law “clarification” is promised, though), the social conference is worthy of our attention: it is a symptom and symbol of the state of France. Here is Read More …
Common wisdom says that incumbents get reelected more easily when the economy is booming. Also, they are more often fired by electors when the economy is in trouble. A whole series of 2008 incumbents can confirm this: the Republican Party (and John McCain) in the U.S., the Labour Party (and Gordon Brown) in Great Britain, or even President Sarkozy of Read More …