Donald Trump last failure about the abrogation of Obamacare promises some others. It is highly likely that the protectionist measures he is thinking about and which were the significant times of his electoral campaign will never be adopted. The transformation of the American tax system, except if VAT is adopted, to penalize imports and reduce enterprises charges, will not happen, as other than symbolic measures against Mexico. The reason is simple: United States has more to lose than to win in going in that direction. Imports taxation would penalize American consumers. Retaliatory measures adopted by the countries which are targeted ...

Continue reading

Interest rate on French 10-years bonds reached 1.17% last Friday, its highest level for three years apart from a short period during 2015 spring. The expectation of Federal Reserve decisions, which rose that week its short-term rates by 0.25% and the political uncertainties in France, just before presidential elections, have provoked for three months a slow increase of  borrowing costs, slightly more important than in Germany, which is the reference on these issues. The spread between our two countries, which is usually 30 basis points rose to near to 70 basis points. That trend has provoked a wave ...

Continue reading

Record France trade deficit in January has reinitiated the debate about the competitiveness of enterprises and remedies to adopt. This situation is rather paradoxical because the economic policy followed since 2013 has targeted, through tax cuts and social charges reductions, the improvement of their competitiveness. It is what was called the supply-side policy, in opposition to policies which stimulate demand through increase of purchasing power or public expenditures rise.

In January, exports fell by 9.2%, reaching only 37.2 billion euro when imports rose by 2.7%, reaching the unprecedented level of 45.2 billion. The deficit, equal to ...

Continue reading