The adoption in the National Assembly of an amendment leading to the nationalisation of the activities in France of the steel group Arcelor-Mittal has revived old memories, the nationalisations following the arrival of the left in power in 1981, accompanied by unjustified critical comments. At the time, Usinor and Sacilor were on the verge of bankruptcy due to their heavy losses and excessive debt. The conversion into shares of these debts held by banks, which had been nationalized since 1945, and by the State, followed by the purchase of the last listed shares, made it possible to save the two ...

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France has entered a long period of political instability due to the inability to find a majority to adopt the necessary measures to restore public finances. At the heart of these is the question of the balance of pension systems faced with the ageing of the population. As life expectancy increases, the length of time a retiree receives his or her benefits increases, which generates additional costs. The proposed solution, the postponement of the legal retirement age, is the subject of strong opposition among the population. Its suspension is not considered sufficient, which risks paralysing government action with the blocking ...

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Nearly two and a half centuries ago, Adam Smith published the Research on the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. It set out principles that would become the basis for economic thinking about value creation and how to grow it, and the rules to be adopted to achieve these goals. Today, it is wealth creation and not wealth itself, built up over the years, that has become the focus of economic thinking and political debate. Growth, the increase in the wealth produced, has become the objective of governments, which have made it the main tool for improving the ...

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