French people have a very particular relationship with taxes. They always think they pay too much ones and especially that their neighbor doesn’t pay enough ones. In the same time, they ask for better public services and a large and fair social protection. When they are shown that their country has a level of compulsory levies among the highest in the world, that doesn’t dissuade them to ask for more, to the condition it is “the neighbor” who pays. And when, in presence of the accumulation of deficits and the public debt increase, it is suggested to reduce ...

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The publication of the first estimations of French economic growth during the 2018 4^th quarter (+0.3%) and the whole year (+1.5%), after 2.3% in 2017, has offered the possibility of several interpretations. From government point of view, it is thought that this result is reassuring. International environment has been less favorable and shows important instability risks. The social crisis the country is going through since November has also weight on activity. The current economic policy is the right one and starts to produce its returns. The version of events is different inside the opposition. Purchasing power ...

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For about fifteen years, France is de-industrializing itself. Political leaders, one after each other, have tried to remedy to that through the research tax credit, the CICE and this year, at last, the financing by the State of a share of the social charges. The corporate tax, which brought back around 40 billion in 2011, fell around 25 billion in 2018. This policy has heavily weighted on public finances because it did not only provide a benefit to industry in favor of which it was conceived to improve its competitiveness. Large retail companies and banks also profited from it. To ...

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