By Jean-Sylvestre MONGRENIER, Research Fellow at the Thomas More Institute | Article published by ISPI (Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, Milano, Italy)

In 2007, at the time of the previous presidential election, the revitalization of France’s foreign policy was one of the issues tackled by the political debates, even though it was marginally. In 2012, things are different, the nostalgia for greatness and the “souci du monde” are submerged by domestic issues. Nonetheless, Politics cannot be ignored. The diplomatic and strategic stakes are not as visible and obvious as those domestics issues but they are most important. Therefore, we shall study the share of continuity and discontinuity in France’s (...)

By Gérard DUSSILLOL, Chairman of the Public Finances Committee of the Thomas More Institute | Published in Le Figaro of April 21-22nd, 2012 | The author answers to the arguments of forty economists who gave their support for François Hollande (Le Monde of April 18th) | Available in French

Le temps semble avoir suspendu son vol : on retrouve dans ce manifeste tous les marqueurs, les clichés, les fausses représentations, d’un système de pensée qui nous a déjà valu tant d'échecs. Nous dansons sur un volcan mais nos « sages » nous garantissent qu’il dort. Il est grave de voir ainsi d'éminents spécialistes cautionner des propositions irréalistes et dangereuses pour notre pays. Les conseilleurs ne sont pas les (...)

By Gérard DUSSILLOL | Chairman of the Public Finances Committee of the Thomas More Institute | Author of La crise... enfin ! Solder des décennies d'échecs collectifs (éd. Xenia, May 2012) | Available in French

La campagne pour le premier tour de l'élection présidentielle se termine sans avoir répondu à la vraie question que se posent les Français : où va-t-on ?

Les candidats se sont contentés de les abreuver à satiété de fiscalité : sous couvert d'arguties pseudo-morales, c'est en effet la voie choisie par tous, pour se conformer à l'obligation de réduire nos déficits publics. Jamais on n'a parlé de solutions à nos problèmes, parce qu'on se refuse toujours à en reconnaître les racines. Celles-ci sont (...)

The (first?) Nicolas Sarkozy's five-year term will be ending soon. Five years. 1 827 days of whom 1 329 days of crisis since the Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy. The crisis has unquestionably marked this mandate and turned it upside down. Elected in 2007 on the theme of the break, Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Elysée as an energetic and voluntary reformer. The crisis made him a fireman. His results have to be read under this light. He had promised many things and triggered a hope for a change. Five years later, French people draw up a sever assessment of his actions and his opponents on the battle for the presidential elections qualified his outcome as his milestone around his neck. Besides the debates and the partisan choices, four (...)

The debt issue and Standard & Poor's downgrade of France's triple-A rating made the headlines last January. Nevertheless, the public finances issue and its possible remedies are almost not taken into account in the context of the presidential debate. Four weeks before the first ballot, François Hollande remains the favorite, in spite of Nicolas Sarkozy's rise. What are his proposals and his solutions? Deciphering based on 19 of his proposals | Available in French.

Les Français le répètent sondage après sondage : la campagne présidentielle 2012 ne les intéresse pas beaucoup. Effet de la crise, des peurs et des crispations qu'elle provoque, d'une actualité qui chamboule les agendas ou de l'incapacité des candidats à (...)