Anglo-Saxon media enthusiasm about France is good news. It breaks with the pessimistic and even alarmist forecasts of international institutions about the situation of the world economy.  Imbalances and excessive indebtedness of public and private agents are making to fear the worst, especially regarding China. So, 2018 would carry the risk of a new and major international crisis. We should not be surprised. Economists as these major institutions didn’t put us on our guard just before the 2007-2008 crisis and they took a lot of time to understand what was going on. They don’t want to be accused ...

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The abandon, by the French government, of the objective included in the energy transition Act of a 50% limit in 2025 of nuclear plants in the power production is a first important signal of a coming back to reality. That objective was impossible to attain, except if natural gas-powered plants were built to guarantee the country energy security. EDF will obtain the necessary prorogation of the life duration of its power plants by far above 40 years, if the appropriate investments are made and approved by the Safety Authority. This political turnaround shows that France has, at last, understood that ...

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Challenging again forecasts, France continues to profit from historically cheap financing conditions. The 10-year rate published by Agence France-Trésor on December 5th, 0.53%, was at its lowest level for more than a year. This situation should last for most of next year, in contradiction with the figures published in the 2018 Finance bill. Three elements are supporting this trend. The most important is coming from the last decisions of the European Central Bank. Its quantitative easing policy is prorogated until next September through the purchase of bonds. Even if their amounts are reduced to 30 billion per month ...

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