Excellent Analysis for French Voters

Anyone who is faced with the quandary of choosing the next President of France should profit from taking a gander at a series of analyses offered up by Liberte Cherie, my favorite French political group. These people (and they're all very young) really understand economics, better than most older and supposedly wiser Ph.D.s.


[Thanks to liberte-cherie.com for the photo of their original masthead, Sabine Herold.]

The above photo reminds me of that famous Delacroix painting of Liberty, which I offer you below. And it's not just the pose.


[Thanks to artunframed.com for the image.]

You will find:

1. Here an amalgam of the best proposals from all four major candidates;

2. Here a discussion of why Liberte Cherie does not endorse any one candidate, but rather supports the free-market ideas of each;

3. A detailed analysis of each platform, separating the wheat from the chaff -- and there is a bit of both in each of them:

Here for Sarkozy,
here for Royal,
here for Bayrou, and
here for Le Pen.

I apologize for the non-French-speaking readers who could benefit from and who would love to be able to read these articles. At some point, I may do a consolidated version of it all, because many of the points are relevant to the American elections coming up in 2008.

And for you economists and economics afficionados, economics is merely the blood that runs through the veins of the body politic. Without an unencumbered circuitry, the market flow becomes thick, and risks arise: Clots, heart attacks, strokes and other debilitating or fatal diseases. That is why I spend some time on a subject that I otherwise would eschew out of distaste.

Here's a Nice Summary of the French Elections

For those who want to bring themselves up to date for the French presidential elections that will take place at the end of the month, here at Angus Reid Global Monitor is a nice summary.


[Thanks to news.yahoo.com/Reuters for the photo montage.]

The results of these elections will be critical to the French economy and social life. If the left is voted in, you can be sure more capital will flee the country and certain stocks will take a plunge. (Not all: See this comment at Seeking Alpha about which industries will be hurt and which will be helped.) On the other hand, if the right wins, there will be unrest in the streets.

Keep your eyes and ears open on April 22, when the first round of voting takes place. I'm betting on Sarkozy (right) at the moment; but you never know with French politics. It's pretty sure we'll get two finalists, but who they will be is still uncertain. Maybe Sarkozy and Bayrou (right and center), or Sarkozy and Royal (right and left), and I suppose there's a chance of a Sarkozy/Le Pen situation (right and far right.) And who knows, maybe we'll get a Royal/Bayrou or Royal/Le Pen. From there on in, it's anyone's guess.