A scathing view of a French government led by M. Hollande.
The significance of a Francois Hollande election in France for the course of the euro crisis should not be underestimated. This is not only because it will put him on a collision course with German Chancellor Angela Merkel due to his insistence that Europe’s economic policies should be more growth-oriented and that the recently agreed European fiscal pact should be reopened. Rather, his insistence on a 75 percent income tax for those in the highest income tax bracket and his declared war on the financial system are unlikely to be well received by the markets. In that context, Hollande might want to recall how savagely markets punished Francois Mitterand in 1981-82 for his unorthodox economic and financial policies.
