The North Sea oil barrel, which is a benchmark in Europe, costs now 72$. Its price has continued to fall and has reached a new milestone with OPEC's decision to maintain its production at current levels, contrary to past practice where the offer was reduced to halt the fall in prices. This new situation calls for two observations.

First, this situation contradicts some theories about the depletion of hydrocarbon resources. Oil companies have long supported this approach, drawing on the concept of "peak oil", according to which production would peak and then decline after a certain date that the ...

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Chargé par François Hollande, peu après son élection, de dresser un bilan de la situation de l’industrie française, Louis Gallois, qui dirigea plusieurs grandes entreprises publiques, après avoir été un proche de Jean-Pierre Chevènement dans les années 70, concluait, au mois de novembre 2012 avec deux mots forts : «  décrochage » et  perte de « compétitivité ». La politique économique qui sera mise en oeuvre à la suite de ce rapport, même si elle n’en adopte pas toutes les recommandations, s’en inspirera : le Crédit d’Impôt-Compétitivité Emploi (CICE)  puis le ...

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Major international meetings held from November 10 to November 17 (APEC summits, ASEAN and G20) were characterized by the now predominant place occupied by China. The Chinese President stepped in each time from a position of strength. He has certainly benefited from the weakening of his interlocutors. Vladimir Putin faces the Ukrainian crisis. Barack Obama has been affected by the loss of the Senate. The Japanese Prime Minister remained discreet because of the economic difficulties of his country and was waiting to be received by Xi Jinping, despite the persisting disagreements about the East China Sea. As for Europeans, they ...

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