International (2/2)

OBAMA’S ECONOMIC STIMULUS PLAN The Republicans, those elected and those working in the civil service and businesses, backed up by the CIA, are going to do everything they possibly can to sink Barack Obama’s plans. A black man with an Arabic Muslim first name, and Democrat to boot, simply cannot succeed where a Republican white man, Reaganite neo-conservative, neo-liberal, new-born Christian, WASP, Yale graduate and member of Yale’s secret society Skulls and Bones, pro-Zionist, has not only failed in applying his theories, but, above all, has wreaked havoc in his country and throughout the world! We’ve had the same thing in France, where the 35-hour workweek would have succeeded if the system had been supported and well negotiated among management and labour, but the MEDEF [the largest union of employers in France] and its leader, Ernest Antoine Sellières, Freemason and/or Opus Dei member, did everything they could to sink a progressive, leftist policy which was going to succeed, counter to their own interests and theories! Media propaganda did the rest … SUSPENSION OF THE MAASTRICHT CRITERIA It would be wise for the Commission to convene all partners in order to seek agreement on the suspension of the Maastricht convergence criteria regarding the budget deficit and public sector debt to prepare for the possibility of zero growth. CYCLIC CRISES OF CAPITALISM Stop the doom-mongering: over the last 200 years, capitalism has witnessed long (Kondratieff, about 30 years), medium (Juglar, about 7 years), and short (Kitchin, 3 years) juxtaposed cycles. See the thorough Crise mondiale, théories et réalités, Synthèse +, by Michel Castellani, published by Sirey. The capitalist system has a remarkable recovery capacity because it acts upon the interest of each individual (as opposed to the interest of all). The system is also singularly myopic, particularly when it is not regulated, and it thus finds itself stuck in the next crisis with no real planning will. Moreover, no-one can doubt the seriousness of future crises: the Iranian crisis, the end of cheap petrol, the damage caused by global warming, the Chinese and Indian hegemony, the commodities crisis, the food crisis, the water crisis, etc. EUROPEAN PLANNING COMMISSION The European Union would greatly benefit from creating an advisory and stimulating Planning Commission similar to the French one, so as to guide states and companies, in particular transnational ones. It is best to produce relevant analyses which guide action rather than yet another layer of regulations which would be poorly received by states, enterprises and populations… ATTACKS AGAINST THE GERMAN ECONOMIC POLICY Nicolas Sarkozy attacks Angela Merkel, who is implementing austerity measures. France is claiming that Germany, a country in a relatively better financial situation, ought to spend more to promote a European Keynesian upswing. Now, any prudent head of household knows that the less s/he owes the banks, the better s/he will fare (less stress to repay loans, less cash spent to help banks work). In reality, what is at stake is the capacity of the French people and their political elites to undertake the forever postponed stabilization of public finance. What is on the line is social cohesion facing a necessary collective effort. And we have to admit that our cohesion is less strong than that of the Germans, the Dutch, the Swedes, the Canadians, the South Koreans, etc. Who is to blame? Politicians and union leaders who are not promoting the real issues and challenges of today’s world, different from those of yesteryear (1945-1973, 1974-2007).

Corporations (3/3)

FRENCH AIRPORTS SHOULD USE THE SERVICES OFFERED BY ARCHITECTURAL AND DESIGN FIRMS TRAINED IN APPLE AND GOOGLE METHODS
It had been a while since I travelled by plane, and I had not had the opportunity of a first-hand look at French airports, hence realizing the extent to which they are halfway between a crypt and a labyrinth! Only the initiated, the regulars, the local people can actually find their way easily and directly.
Airports have many attributes: they should offer cleanliness (particularly in the toilets), the opportunity to rest on sofas (or even paid for hotel-boxes for a few hours in transit), to eat in a range of eateries (from fast-food outlets to a one-star restaurant), and to buy products representative of the country (in France, these would include clothing, perfume, cosmetics, gastronomy, etc.). A key requirement is also to enable travelers to find their way very easily (that would involve putting oneself in the shoes of foreigners who do not speak our language and sometimes do not recognize our script – hence offering them automated translation kiosks) and very quickly (for rapid connections). I suggest, among others, color-coded floor markings, alphabetic placing of airlines, ensuring that hanging signs are visible from everywhere and follow a continuous route.

Finally, airports ought to borrow, or rent at reasonable rates, works of art from the national museums, and regularly renew the collections; the goal would be to make airports an exhibition site, in partnership with museums. Murals ought to be regularly renewed as well (frescos, pieces with different textures, patterns inspired from street art or learned paintings). As for the tiled floors, they should be easy to clean and robust; current fashion seems to favor large, charcoal grey tiles. If possible, ceilings ought to be high to prevent feelings of confinement. In short, I am no architect, but good ideas can be found in museums, magazines, or by asking professionals; it just takes effort and passion. Don’t tell me that the issue is one of investment budget: returns will flow in when prestige and national culture are back in our airports as in all our French industrial developments and services.

OFFERING A 0% RATE STUDENT LOAN
I encourage all banks to offer a civic student loan at 0% rate, based on the general idea of “You are committed to your studies? We’re rewarding you by offering you a loan at 0% interest rate.”
In addition to offering civil society a well deserved civic contribution, banks would recoup their investment by gaining the loyalty of new clients.

DISSEMINATING TECHNICAL SALES BOOKS AMONG MANAGERS/ ENTREPRENEURS
I suggest disseminating technical sales books among managers and entrepreneurs, whether they have scientific and technical training or not, so they may find new markets by understanding technical basics. It would enable them to gain an insight into commercial potential and technical complexity while remaining on a relatively superficial scientific level. That’s what commercial schools use them for.
Example: SMARTGRIDS (smart electrical networks) EGEM Hermes Lavoisier

INVESTING IN VSEs AND ARTISANS/CRAFTSMEN
If you have small savings, say of several tens of thousands of Euros, think about investing in VSEs (very small enterprises) and proximity artisans – those people who work well, long, and hard. For an investment of a few thousand Euros, they may be willing to give you shares in their enterprise, without voting rights, to be free to develop their business; in return, either your shares go up or you receive an annual share of the profits.
As far as the technological start-ups are concerned, those investments can, indeed, be highly profitable, but they are rather reserved for the professionals in a technical sector.
In other words, do not let your money sit idle in a bank account, blindly accepting your financial adviser’s words. A comfortable nest egg in life insurance policies is more than enough. It’s also best to give up on shares in the large enterprises: you’d be part of a tiny minority, not really able to assess the strategies of the groups, let alone to influence them.

ESSENTIAL ERGONOMICS FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICES
Electronic devices need to be quick and simple to use (also in case of emergency, security issues), reliable, robust, proven, compatible with different successive and parallel versions and ranges, with simple ergonomics, usable by the targeted public (in particular the general public), quality, fast, high performing, powerful, easy to learn at the beginning. Otherwise, commercial failure is certain.
For instance, Apple currently offers a large range of electronic devices (computers, tablets, mobile phones, fixed line telephones, TV sets, music distributors + editing, software, etc.). Yet, Apple’s ergonomics is still not fully accessible to the general public regarding its operating system, which is nevertheless highly reliable.
If Apple were to enter into a strategic partnership with Google, which also knows all about innovation (a simple and highly efficient Internet search engine – their flagship product-, a wide range of derived software products, utilizing innovating start-ups, etc.), we would now have one of the most successful industrial development in the world today.
NB: I’m also interested in the promising developments of the Windows operating system ergonomics for computers, tablets, and mobile phones.

SMOKE DETECTORS
Home security is an issue that worries families.

Current electronic sensors and telematics have made possible the following solution, based on the services of a private surveillance company connected to the fire brigade and the SAMU (emergency medical services):
- Against fraudulent intrusions, radar and infrared alarms trigger optic cameras and robots.
- For medical conditions, there are smart smoke sensors (that can analyze the type of particles being released, their quantity, the flow increase, the time of day, the presence of human beings, etc.) Wi-Fi-linked to the internal alarm connected to the private surveillance company or connected to the fire brigade via GSM card.
- To prevent swimming-pool drownings, a swimming-pool sonar triggers a sound alarm and under water cameras, also GSM-connected to the fire brigade/SAMU and/or to the private surveillance company and all the family members’ telephones.
- For car accidents, the airbag is set off simultaneously with the GPS tracker that sends coordinates via GSM to the fire brigade and is connected to external and internal cameras that permit assessment of the situation.
- For accidents involving small, private aircrafts, boats, and the railways, a GPS+GSM tracker is used.

DIY STORES
In order to widen the clientele of DIY stores, hence their turnover and profits, I suggest a vertical extension of the services on offer:
- Selling tools and products placed in three color-coded categories (cheap, best value for money, high-quality)
- Training people to use the tools
- Connecting people to architectural firms
- Selling magazines and books regarding decoration and architecture (interior, exterior, garden design)
- Connecting people to entrepreneur artisans, vouched for by the local store, depending on the level of the services needed (hence their cost) by the clients
- Entering into partnership with furniture stores in the area (the stores are classified in terms of various criteria such as modern/rustic style and price range) for furniture repairs needs, for example.
- And even more services to be created!

COOKERY RECIPES
A publisher should produce a collection of recipes according to skill level (beginner, easy, intermediate, expert) with a DVD + Internet + CD-Rom (“serious game” training).
Contents would include: ingredients (photos showing them on stalks and in the open-air markets /shops, how to choose the right product, seasonal and regional prices over the last 3 years), filming and commenting on the preparation, with several chefs’ variants, showing the presentation being served and on the plate, promotional vouchers for tasting the dish in a restaurant, options for a live lesson (Internet-based interactive lesson or with a chef).

OPTIMUM SALARY POLICY
Until recently, I favored limiting from the top the remuneration of a company’s employees and managers, according to the principle that people have only one stomach to fill, and consequently do not need huge, even unlimited, remuneration. The problem with this type of reasoning is that eventually it can lead to downward leveling, the “tall poppy syndrome” form of egalitarianism, which is ultimately demotivating for the “locomotives” of the company. A value hierarchy of individual performance would cease to exist. That would be wrong: everything is not equivalent to everything else. We need a set of values that is just, understood, and accepted and monitoring mechanisms over time.

Hence, I now advocate a monthly, fixed remuneration that meets the needs of families, is relatively egalitarian, and takes into account the “family-quotient system” (family-based taxation) + a variable remuneration that depends on the profits, is totally egalitarian for all the company members (it is best to choose a simple figure, e.g. 25%, of the variable remuneration) + an individualized portion depending on people’s performance and their contribution to the proper functioning of the company (this portion is not limited at the top but needs to be part of the total profit-based variable remuneration, e.g., in this case, 75% of the annual variable remuneration).

It is important to ensure that the variable portions that do not have an upper limit do not induce uncooperative, predatory, exclusionary behaviors; instead, this element should bring about healthy competition between services and staff members, ensure staff commitment, identify the best, reward the meritorious, and ensure the continued existence of the fundamentals of the company.
At the same time, the company leaders will take the responsibility for arbitrary measures, depending on the company strategies, regarding the focus placed on services from one year to the next. In concrete terms, to what extent should the short-term sales be favored over long-term research and development goals, product quality or shrewd management, etc.?

Inevitably, new unwanted behaviors will ensue from this mode of remuneration. The variable allowances should thus be reviewed every year, distinguishing between services and the annual individual performance. Time will be required to make all necessary adjustments to this new remuneration policy; I suggest that all stakeholders (upper management + unions for the managerial staff, workers, employees) should negotiate a 3-year experimental implementation period, after which the old remuneration system may be reverted back to or the new protocol kept.

GENETIC PREDISPOSITIONS: PREFERABLY FEMALE MANAGERS AND MALE SPECIALISTS
After thorough psychoanalysis and observation of male and female behaviors, I have reached the following rather surprising conclusion, which of course grants many exceptions so as not to lead to abuse or genetic totalitarianism: I truly believe that women make better managers/ decision makers, and men make better specialists/advisors/researchers.
My explanation relates to genetics and species adaptation.

Women are used to managing the day-to-day processes (the numerous and varied tasks require a memory favoring lists + diary and the rigorous time-bound execution of tasks, e.g. feeding children); they characteristically share out the tasks among husbands, children, and themselves; they can pull things together, analyze and synthesize the state of the household. Besides, women traditionally create links in their communities (which requires interpersonal skills). In an industrial society, these feminine genetic abilities correspond well to the management and company-leading tasks.

As for men, we know that males in the animal world are programmed partly for hunting (bringing food back) and partly for fighting/the physical protection of their family, given their genetically greater muscular strength. Regarding hunting, males need to be resilient, persevering, and smarter than their prey, whether they hunt alone or in packs. Regarding fighting, males need to be powerful, cunning, and able to design multilevel strategies. These genetic abilities are best exploited in the kind of long, hard, and tedious analysis tasks that advisors, specialists, and researchers are required to carry out.

In a nutshell, in industrial societies, men would be better suited to the advisor’s substantive work, long and tedious, whereas women, quick and decisive, would bring together all those findings in their role as arbitrators and decision-makers.

I have not yet dealt with the tricky issue of authority, namely whether companies should favor the lines of authority (a typically masculine imposition of power) or consensus-based authority (a typically feminine flexible way of resolving issues).

In addition, men are more adventurous (hunters, explorers, pioneers, migrants) whereas women are more conservative (preserving balance in the home). Giving a man the responsibilities of general management might correspond to the strategy of winning new markets and related risk taking, or might be useful in a phase of strategy break-down in an economic context of crisis. A woman general manager would probably be more management oriented, conservative, and useful in a phase of economic stagnation, for example, or of growth-limiting competition.

However, we should guard against sinking into the genetic determinism of X and Y chromosomes. I am talking in terms of trend only. There are evidently exceptions for each individual man or woman, the different business sectors do not necessarily follow the trend, and this observation might be valid for labor organizations at the start of the 21st century and become obsolete in future, should company organization change unpredictably.

Legal matters (3/3)

THE 6th FRENCH REPUBLIC
I have often assessed statesmen’s speeches and reactions from the people’s representatives, French and foreign journalists and editorial writers, and the population. My conclusion is that the 5th Republic Constitution is doomed to fail. Why? Because the public education system is not working well enough, and in this kind of situation, the population should not be allowed to give their opinion on everything.
This is my suggestion regarding the architecture of the 6th French Constitution:
- The President of the Republic, directly elected as is the case now, has the final say and makes decisions.
- The President’s advisers prepare the decisions.
- The government (including the Prime Minister) implements and orchestrates the decisions.
- The Senate, indirectly elected by elected officials (grands électeurs), as is the case now, advises the President by means of relevant reports.
- There is no National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale), locum of sterile quarrels that quite literally make the population lose their head
- ALTERNATIVE: Assigning the National Assembly the tasks of preparing the President’s decisions, monitoring the implementation of the measures taken by the government, and educating people.

In short, the Constitution is modified so as to explicitly separate the functions of advisers from those of decision-makers (otherwise incestuous):
The Senate prepares the advice
The National Assembly prepares the decisions
The President of the Republic is the final decision-maker
The Prime Minister and the ministers carry out the implementation and monitoring of the decisions (i.e. their role is an administrative one).

P.S. In my own capacity, I am alternatively advisor or decision-maker, depending on the issue.
When I offer advice, it would be dangerous to skip the step of checking + external validation.
When I ask for opinions and advice, my training and mental capacities enable me to have the final say.
Hence, I’m sure you have worked out that as my blogs stem from my personal thinking, I merely provide opinions and advice which readers need to check and validate, or not.

Economic proposals (6/6)

REDUCING SOCIAL WELFARE BENEFITS AND ADJUSTING THEM IN TERMS OF PURCHASING POWER PARITY BY GEOGRAPHIC AREA
We are currently in a period where budget levels are low. It is therefore necessary to reduce social welfare benefits so as to make way for much-needed savings. We must make sure, however, to show intelligence, flexibility and good faith when doing so; these three qualities are the hallmark of modern democracies.
In particular, as the cost of living is not the same in Paris, Toulouse, or Castres, my suggestion is to make the reduction proportional to the annual average purchase price for a five-main-room dwelling, related to the annual average salary for a family. Currently, families have 2-3 children, and the main dwelling constitutes both the biggest bottleneck in households’ budget and key, high-priority investing for the family’s future.
Calculations ought to be checked by INSEE (the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies) and validated by the government. I suggest the following clusters of areas, for necessary readability and simplicity:
- Paris region
- Lyon and Marseille regions
- Large regional centers (Montpellier, Toulouse, Bordeaux, etc.)
- Préfectures and sous-préfectures
- Small towns and villages

MACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT + ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Let’s review my personal vision of the French economy: Key necessary steps are as follows: 1. Stabilizing the macroeconomic environment; 2. Boosting growth through entrepreneurship.

1. Convergence of opinions regarding the macroeconomy

Economic science is not hard science; rather, it is a human science. In other words, you can find, in the specialist literature, arguments about anything and everything, all defended with the same intensity or even deep convictions! Years of study are needed for people to form their own opinion, by dipping into economics papers to find what seems to be most relevant to the current situation.
You will have noticed that there exists in the news a general convergence of opinions concerning the macroeconomic situation from various stakeholders: BALANCING THE BOOKS, PAYING OFF ALL ACCUMULATED DEBTS. Even if this macroeconomic policy brings about a temporary recession, it will help get rid of the various economic players’ bad habits, which, in turn, will contribute to a much stronger and sound growth when companies have recovered innovative and effective habits (Item 2). This convergence of opinions favoring a standard, classical macroeconomy, despite the brilliance of Keynes, whose Stop and Go public policies have been misunderstood and poorly implemented, is shared today by a broad range of economists, statesmen, trade unionists, and employers.

2. Focusing on wealth creation through private enterprise development

Macroeconomy paves the way for real economy (the economy of enterprises and consumers) to prosper. What we lack is a web of innovating enterprises
- that provide new, combined products and services
- with features that are certified through various labels, prices, competitions, private and public certification bodies, at local, regional, national, European, and international levels
- reliable, safe, robust, tested
- new (software, modes of transport, energy, fashion, medicine, etc.)
- that are interrelated
o geographically (at local, regional, national, international levels)
o in a hierarchical manner (VSEs, SMEs, large companies)
o crosswise (VSE + VSE, SME+ SME, large companies with each other).
Ideas and examples to be found at http://facebook.com/benoit.fabre.1969

EXPLICIT MULTIMEDIA EDUCATION REGARDING THE POLICIES BEING CARRIED OUT
Yesterday evening, I watched the President of the Republic give an excellent speech on the economy on television. Unfortunately, from the various comments I heard from journalists, politicians, or the population, going beyond partisan disingenuousness, it would now appear that his message was poorly received and misunderstood. Why would this be? Because the speech was addressed more to experts in economics than to the population. The issue is that of the cognitive distortion that makes it very hard to transmit technical language to non-experts: doctors, when talking to each other, would not be understood by their patients. The same thing can be said about lawyers, engineers, etc.
Hence, I recommend, over and above expert discourse and decisions, the extensive use of varied publishing and multimedia outlets, so that the message would, at the very least, be understood by the voters, even if they do not necessarily accept it. In a democracy, voters have the right and the obligation to know and to understand who and what they are voting for – surely this is the bare minimum.

In concrete terms, the idea would be to do the following:
- create short films broadcast on the Internet, the television, in cinemas and DVDs;
- broadcast summaries and PowerPoint-type presentations;
- write books for children;
- design comics;
- develop video games for computers, the so-called “serious games”;
- print leaflets and ask trained militants to explain them in face-to-face interaction;
- put up explicit posters;
- give conference sessions and night classes;
- commission literary fiction and short stories;
- sell magazines designed to familiarize people with basic economic concepts, etc.

PENSION REFORMS
I repeat my propositions regarding pensions:
- Reducing pensions beyond a minimum threshold represented by the SMIG (guaranteed minimum wage for full-time employees) through deindexing of the pension part beyond the SMIG, or even a reduction by a factor of 2. NB: the same type of operation could be carried out on the family grants. The most important thing is to be simple, understandable, readable, and verifiable, so as to elicit greater acceptance on the part of the population.
- Increasing the pensionable age in such a way that it is compatible both with public finances, life expectation in good health, and the actual reality of individual circumstances (illness, impact of age on the job: arduous work, hard to break unemployment). Currently, I believe that the legal pensionable age is 65 years, with derogations possible via a court of arbitration made up of 3 judges (representing the State, the social partners, and the employees).
- Increasing employees’ contributions; the social contributions borne by the employers are too heavy at the moment, which worsens our competitivity against less developed, low cost, countries and blocks employment, which ultimately will penalize those very same employees!

The left wing (2/2)

ALLEGED COLLUSION BETWEEN FORMER PRESIDENT NICOLAS SARKOZY AND OPULENT MME BETTENCOURT
1. What exactly is Nicolas Sarkozy being accused of? We need to identify the ABUSE, if there is any. Basically, he’s accused of having benefited from the billionaire’s largesse to the tune of 150,000 Euros. This person’s assets are estimated to be worth 15 billion Euros, which would make the gift of 150,000 / 15 000 000 000 = 10e-6. To put this into perspective: an executive who earns 100,000 Euros/year and whose assets amount to 1 million Euros would have given 1e6 * 10e-6 = 10 Euros for his chosen candidate’s campaign, WHICH IS NEITHER DISHONEST NOR DISCREDITABLE FOR EITHER PARTY (in fact, rather stingy!). If I remember correctly, my annual subscription to the Socialist Party costs 70 Euros, and I’m not complaining.
2. In a capitalist democracy, we have the free choice of making use of our own fortune as we please, in a reasonable fashion, without any excesses or despoliation. OUR CONSTITUTION GUARANTEES THAT FRANCE IN THE 2000’s IS NOT A COMMUNIST COUNTRY.

3. Who benefits from implicating the former President of the Republic? His competitors, obviously. François Hollande himself, directly? No, I think he’s too honest and ethical for this sort of thing – and I’ve been listening to him for a long time. Henchmen in the Socialist Party? Yes, perhaps … Why not Jean-François Copé himself, in-house competitor on the right of Nicolas Sarkozy, who was smiling broadly about the charge against Sarkozy this morning on the 7.45 a.m. France2 television news programme? (now, this ought to be checked, confirmed, and then, if true, acted upon!)
4. This sad business is conducted through the judicial system, which, once more, brings discredit upon itself by lending credence to nauseating accusations and, as is common nowadays, will let the situation deteriorate by dragging it on while smearing the accused and ruining his career, if not his private life. Surely, France deserves better, Your Honor!

MANAGEMENT’S AND WORKERS’ INTERESTS GO HAND IN HAND
Here is my message to trade unionists/ managers/ executives/ workers. Essentially, the interests of shareholders, managers, executives, and workers go hand in hand, at least up to a point.
• Managers need their business to run smoothly.
• Executives need to have satisfied bosses on the one hand, and subordinates who do their job properly, on the other.
• Workers need to do their job properly so that their company thrives and they, in turn, are better paid, preferably according to a profit-sharing mechanism. From the managers’ perspective, the fixed part of salaries needs to be limited: should business slow down, the fixed charges will be too heavy and will lead to layoffs. That situation would be counterproductive to the interests of subordinates, managers, and executives: loss of in-house skills, and costs of rehiring, retraining, and recoordinating when business is better.
• Majority shareholders need to get maximum profits on the long term; hence, they seek effective worker training and stability.
• As for politicians, they also need a dense and prosperous industrial fabric across the territory. So, there’s no question of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs nor of issuing ill-considered statements that will bring about cacophony among employees and rivalry with the managers.
Consequently, I say once more that a capitalist industrial system will work optimally provided that all actors play and sustain their role.
I would strongly advise investors to invest only in companies that, as a bottom line, follow the principles enunciated above: their long-term return on investment closely depends on it.

BEING CHARGED UPON ILLEGAL EVIDENCE
Jérome Cahuzac, Budget Minister, has had to resign from the government following a judicial indictment based upon completely illegal telephone-tapping. In our democracy, the Constitution forbids judges to 1) carry out illegal investigations, and 2) accept the so-called evidence that has been illegally acquired.
Consequently, the constitutional judges need to demand the immediate repeal of the indictment procedure and to promptly rehabilitate Jérome Cahuzac. Otherwise, it means our country has NOT PROGRESSED since the days of the 1940-1944 COLLABORATION WITH THE NAZIS.
PS: Two weeks after this message, former Minister Cahuzac admitted his guilt. I am no professional lawyer, but believed that I had to defend a man I thought was innocent with all my energy. It now turns out that he was guilty. I wish for appeasement of the whole affair.

A FINE STATEMENT FROM FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC
“We can also find enemies, targets, and seek a scapegoat. This happens in all European countries. I have found a fine sentence from ROOSEVELT, as he was confronted by another crisis, the 1929 crisis, of a different magnitude. This is what he was telling his compatriots: “What we need to fear most is fear. Even today, we need to bring hope and confidence. This is what I told the firms I met, workers and managers alike, but I say it to our fellow citizens too: A STRONG STATE IS A SIMPLE STATE; A POWERFUL STATE IS A FAST STATE; AN EFFECTIVE STATE IS A STATE THAT TRUSTS AND INSPIRES TRUST.” François Hollande, Speech in Dijon, March 12, 2013.
Download from http://www.elysee.fr
http://www.elysee.fr/chronologie/#e2883,2013-03-11,deplacement-en-cote-d-or

AN EXCELLENT ECONOMIC POLICY SPEECH FROM JEAN-MARC AYRAULT, PRIME MINISTER
Speech given at the National Assembly on March 20, 2013.
Download from http://www.gouvernement.fr
http://www.gouvernement.fr/premier-ministre/discours-de-jean-marc-ayrault-premier-ministre-reponse-a-la-motion-de-censure-de-je
A TOTALITARIAN PHENOMENON: CROSSCHECKING IN FRENCH VILLAGES
I am a witness to a phenomenon of crosschecking of the behavior of people in a village; this practice, I imagine, would affect all the world’s villages. What is the point of it? The drawbacks, lack of discretion, stifling atmosphere of loss of freedom (deprivation) are obvious.
Could sociologists help me understand this phenomenon?

IMPOSING STIFF SANCTIONS ON INCOMPETENT JUDGES
We are witnessing a serious breaking up of political life through repeated attacks from judges on current political leaders, or those likely to influence the course of things. To cap it all, a number of investigation procedures are unconstitutional, hence illegal.
I urge the highest judicial authorities and the Justice Minister to impose stiff sanctions on those incompetent judges who thus play havoc with our democracy. Is the general idea to make us believe that we’ll be happy if we do nothing and take no responsibility, make no decision on anything? This needs to be investigated.

WHY I SUPPORT THE SUCCESSIVE DEMOCRATIC FRENCH GOVERNMENTS
Indeed, I have supported right-wing and left-wing French governments the best way I could when they were going in the right direction, in the best interest of France and the French people.
Besides, in our democratic system, major elections take place every five years, which generally gives us one year to think and one month to make a decision, each according to our own conscience. What I simply will never accept is the voters’ unbelievable fickleness such that a good 50% of the votes go to one particular face and programme, but, one year later, opinion polls systematically announce only 35% of favorable opinions going to the government. So,
• either the programme that was adhered to at the time of voting was pure demagogy, totally unrealistic, and the pedagogy of a realistic programme was not attempted;
• or the French are impatient, moaners and whiners, fickle, and incapable of political thinking.
Hence, a question comes to mind: “Should we keep a popular democratic system?”, “Should we go back to some as yet undefined suffrage by census system?”

OFFERING AN ECONOMIC POLICY FROM THE CENTRE-WING
Centre-wing politics are defined through a double opposition to left- and right-wing politics. To offer a third path, the centre had better shop around and collect centre-, left-, and right-wing ideas so as to offer its own synthesis. In the political world, policies do not belong to anyone and there is no such thing as copyright; ideas are invented by counselors who are paid to do just that, but those ideas are then adopted and promoted by those political parties that identify with them.
In particular, I suggest that (both left- and right-) centre-wing politics adopt a mixed economic policy:
- rigorous budgeting: no annual budget deficit, zero debt targeting for a healthy macroeconomic environment (centrist politics), and room to maneuver in the event of a geopolitical blow (Gaullist politics, the army)
- promoting entrepreneurship to speed up growth (liberal politics, right-wing politics)
- redistributing: producing more and better (ecology) to redistribute more to the poor (left-wing politics, even catholic-oriented)

THE NECESSARY DEMOCRATIC ARBITRATION PROCESS
In politics, it is necessary to distinguish between what comes under hard science (rules established through reasoning and experiments) and what comes under human sciences (hypotheses and inferences based on fragile ground). Rules do not require arbitration; they are applied until some major event calls them into question. In contrast, contradictable reasoning comes fully under the notion of arbitration; in a democracy, arguments are the domain of specialists who try to convince the people who will make decisions directly (elections or referendum) or indirectly through the people’s representatives (House of councilors, House of decision makers, President, Prime Minister, ministers).

Here is a typical case: the economy of developed countries has been in recession for 40 years. Left-wing economists swear by Keynes (the notion that redistributing purchasing power can stimulate business in the country). Right-wing economists cling to the concept of low-risk management according to which budgets are balanced so as not to imperil the country’s future. Who’s right and who’s wrong? Both arguments, truly at opposite ends of the spectrum, are scientifically true. In a democratic state, only the people will be convinced by one argument rather than by the other, and voters will decide between one and the other perspective.

We need to go beyond the scientific debate, to settle things once and for all, so we may move on to public arbitration of other aspects of politics. 40 years of public debate have not seen the riddle solved. In fact, Keynesian Stop and Go principles worked in the 1950s and 1960s in England (Beveridge). The left wing tried to apply them in France in the 1980s and 1990s, but only the easy half of the economic policy was carried out, namely the stimulus when at the bottom of the economic cycle (Go phase). The difficult phase of the theory (Stop phase) was never carried out, namely the savings in the expansion times of the cycle, savings that are needed to pay debts and save for future bad times. In these conditions, I strongly suggest abandoning Keynesian policies in France, at least in the current situation and given the lack of economic virtue from both the elites and our fellow citizens. Instead, I advocate rigorous budget balancing, which means we don’t have to speculate on a possible recovery nor gamble on our limited financial virtue; in addition, this will encourage adaptive strategies from all economic stakeholders (companies, workers, shareholders, the State), which, in turn, will enable a strong economic recovery when the characteristics of the top (peak) of the cycle are met.

Economic proposals (5/6)

COMPENSATORY ALLOWANCE OF SOCIAL VAT IN FAVOR OF LOW- INCOME EARNERS
VAT (value added tax) is but a fiscal tool based on a mathematical algorithm that is necessarily fallible in terms of the real economic situations encountered (by consumers, companies, the State). It can be adjusted via a compensatory allowance of social VAT in favor of low- income earners; this allowance would be calculated by INSEE (the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies).
Should the principle be accepted, the triggering threshold needs to be defined, for instance an income tax return showing less than 0.8 – 1.3 SMIG (guaranteed minimum wage for full-time employees), whether the income is earned per adult or per family in the INSEE sense (offhand, 1 part for the first adult, 0.8 for the second adult, 0.5 for the first child, and 0.2 for the others). All decisions regarding thresholds, parts, and amounts should involve the trade unions, even the non-governmental organizations, and the associations working to fight poverty so as to prevent electoral challenges and street actions.

THE AUTHORITIES RESPONSIBLE FOR NEGOTIATIONS MUST PUNCTUATE THOSE WITH WELL DEFINED MILESTONES AND LIMIT THEIR LENGTH
One achievement acquired in May 1968 is the refusal of stupid and nasty authority that subordinates were expected to give blind obedience to, with no knowledge of the whys and wherefores and with no regard for the effort required. There ensued a period of interminable discussions, where no-one obeyed anyone as a matter of principle. The truth is that any organization needs someone (or group) who bears the ultimate responsibility for decisions, someone who will receive the information, listen to the arguments, and then who will cut the Gordian knot. It is essential to ensure that the consultation phases do not get bogged down in terms of either complexity or time, whether the stalemate is deliberate or not.
Consequently, the authorities responsible for negotiations must punctuate those with well defined milestones and limit the length of each phase. If negotiations get bogged down, the authority in charge needs to settle the argument unilaterally, since this is the final option.

This negotiation principle must be clearly explained to all stakeholders so as to gain acceptance and legitimacy. Any time-wasting behavior will be openly denounced. This is essentially what Nicolas Sarkozy, as presidential candidate, proposed in his Villepinte speech, and this approach is the right one, regardless of what one may think of the substance of his proposals. This approach is equally valid for discussions between unions and the company manager, between pupils and their teacher, children and their parents, plaintiffs and judge, government and the parliament, a President and street protesters.
No human (or even animal) grouping can function without an authority figure. Should difficulties arise in a society, it is that authority figure, if competent, who will ensure survival for all. It remains necessary, however, to assess its proper intensity, legitimacy, mode of enforcement, and the possible and necessary level of compliance to its commands.

FLEXIBLE LAW ENFORCEMENT, ACCURATELY IDENTIFYING WHAT IS ESSENTIAL FROM WHAT IS LESS IMPORTANT
I have recently experienced an administrative dispute on some trifle, and I understood to what extent the administration could harass people and make a fuss for the sheer sake of it! Civil servants believe they act within their rights when they enforce the law, which is the same for everybody, even where only special cases abound. They behave as the guardians of some semi-divine Law, because secularity and the Republic have replaced the sacred in my country, while their behavior is in fact inhuman and obtuse. Do not get me wrong, I am not advocating any laxity; I am a Republican through and through, straight out of the most impartial and demanding competitive examinations. I am also aware that the decision-making mathematical algorithms underlying our laws are hard to set up, that the threshold effects are cruel for those who are subjected to them, and that even the law-makers are fully aware of that. What I really want is to promote the notion of mediation in all areas of French society: in law enforcement, trade, education, social services. Sometimes, we might even realize that we need to be far stricter than the laws of the Republic, such as they are.
In this case, as I explained in a previous article, it is necessary to rely on the relevant legal power and human potential of mediation, of municipal police officers and gendarmes, long before knocking on the judges’ doors – they are overwhelmed by cases of no fundamental importance. Local and national news stories are full of these cases: tickets issued for exceeding the speed limit by a few kilometers without threatening one’s or anyone else’s life; families experiencing payment difficulties whose electricity and gas are cut off, often for, really, very little; companies filing for bankruptcy because of temporary difficulties, even though they are viable in the medium term; strained relationships between local authorities and citizens resulting from a too strict application of the town planning Code, etc. Flexibility and customization, even if difficult to implement (that’s why one can call in the mediators) - surely this is one of the keys to a better life for all in this beautiful and rich country, France.

Economic proposals (4/6)

INTERMEDIATE VAT RATES
The possibility is being considered of introducing intermediate VAT rates to increase tax revenue from products/services that are not really basic. In this case, convergence with German VAT rates is being sought, which is not a bad idea.
It would be advisable, however, for both countries, to determine representative rates amenable to quick mental calculations. In management control, people are taught to think in terms of large masses, so that they can concentrate on what’s essential rather than silly decimal points pulled out of thin air or from maximizing tax revenue over one or two years, hence pretty sterile and futureless. I suggest the following:
1%: for the press, starch food (pasta, bread, potatoes, rice), another basic essential food; cabbage? (German)
5%: the rest of foodstuffs
10%: catering (sitting, fast, take out, delivered, etc.)
20%: normal rate 1/5
A 25% (1/4) extension could be considered if there is a 5% social VAT to reduce the companies’ social burden, or a 5% anti-relocation VAT to tax products issued from social, tax, carbon, or ecological dumping, etc.
33%: (1/3) luxury or comfort products, perfume, cosmetics, fashion brands, cars, flights, planes, etc.

I repeat that rates that can be calculated easily are not some gadget or other; rather, they constitute a necessary readability of taxation, the beginning of understanding, of proper budget management for households, companies (often made up of heterogeneous groupings not necessarily accounting-savvy – autoentrepreneurs, VSEs, SMEs, large companies). The project of a company, the State, or local authorities is more likely to succeed if it has been clearly conceived and executed, rather than another plan which is fuzzier and more brilliant!
Public accounts need to be readable by both taxpayers and the administrations – this should become all governments’ leitmotiv, mantra, obsession!

Today, tax flows between individuals, companies, territorial authorities, social benefit schemes, and the Nation-State look like a plate of spaghetti: no-one knows by which end to start the process of obtaining a clear and coherent idea of those flows. Sold by weight, the Fiscal Code 2011 weighs several kilograms: it’s an ineffective cathedral made up of articles added over time, with no coherence, no guiding principles; no-one, I repeat no-one, not even individual tax inspectors, understands all those articles. Only a few clever inspectors, gone into private practice and paid handsomely for their services, help the wealthy because they know the loopholes, the weaknesses of the tax system.
NB. What I said concerning the mumbo-jumbo and mixed salad effect of tax law is just as accurate regarding all other current French law Codes. It would thus appear that neither the French nor their representatives who make laws are endowed with clear, limpid reasoning abilities. To be sure, keeping things simple, neat, clear and effective is truly hard and requires work, time, and talent.

KEEP NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES AS LONG AS ENERGY ALTERNATIVES ARE NOT MATURE!
In this domain, I speak as a scientist, engineer, and researcher. I am highly aware of the drawbacks of our civil nuclear energy generation (radioactivity levels of nuclear waste, possible radioactive leaks following technical failure, attacks, natural disaster, and additional costs linked to the dismantling of nuclear power plants at the end of their lifecycle). It is essential to launch and prolong research on cleaner energy sources (production + storage): solar panels (photoelectric or other fundamental physics?), improving wind energy yields, capturing the energy potential of the sea and oceans in continual motion, etc. None of these technologies is currently mature. We’re still at the level of research, sometimes prototypes, demonstrators, not at the industrialization phase, let alone that of equipping our territory in terms of sufficient dissemination and overall energy capacity (issue of time and capital).
For centuries, or even longer, breakaway inventions have occurred at random, often as a result of research focused on something else. With their rather dubious training and relatively limited IQ as compared to that of Planck, Bohr, and others, politicians are not the ones who will change anything to that fact. Hence, claiming that we can change our energy model within a few decades is sheer utopia, or worse, an electoral lie. Within the presidential promises ambit, namely 1 or even 2 five-year electoral mandates, I bet there won’t be more than one change in the margin of the energy mix. Every man to his own trade: politicians and manufacturers should finance energy research and hope; researchers should work hard on several avenues leading to success, one day; but the timing cannot be predicted.

BANKING REFORMS
Banking has been weakened by its own greed and threatens the real economy, the one companies and consumers belong to, because it no longer does its core job, namely to collect savers’ extra cash then lend to investors.
The range of required reform measures can be found in L’échéance (The cutoff point) by François de Closets, pp. 263-272:
- The Tobin Tax regarding financial transactions to curb speculation by making it expensive.
- Reinforcing the banks’ own funds so they won’t go bankrupt in case of massive demand for redemptions.
- Limiting by law the leverage ratio to, for example, 1 Euro of own funds for 20 Euros on loan so as to limit the risks in case of an economic turnaround.
- Preventing banks from lending to hedge funds: this is where the gap is biggest between own funds (guarantee) and loaned funds in fine.
- In the stock exchanges, once-a-day quotation should replace continuous trading so as to curb speculation, in particular that made in one millisecond by automated algorithmic financial software (software for automatic speculation).
- Separating the banks’ market speculation activities from those of receiving deposits and supporting the real economy, in 2 different types of banks, as used to be the case in the US (the Glass-Steagall Act). The point is that in France, in 2011, these activities each generate half of the benefits of the mixed banks. Such a separation of activities would protect savers from the investment banking activities (speculation), particularly in case of bankruptcy. This would be a long-term measure to prevent a rerun of the 2008 banking crisis.
In 2011, the country that is ahead on the issue of banking regulation is Canada.

HOW TO CUT BACK ON SOCIAL BENEFITS
Today, politicians are caught between, on the one hand, the absolute need to cut back on social benefits and, on the other hand, their conscience that demands they should not negatively affect the living standards of citizens who are forever complaining, regardless of the situation and people’s social categories. Efforts must be prioritized. It is essential to retain the humanistic goal of avoiding worsening great poverty, which could even be reduced in this crisis phase through specific benefits such as the RSA (Active Solidarity Income) and getting all other social categories to contribute proportionally (right-wing policies) or progressively (left-wing policies).
Regardless of the taxation instrument (additional tax or cuts in benefits), a statistical indicator should be set up, then monitored by INSEE, to ensure that absolute poverty does not increase but instead is reduced through specific benefits reviewed every 3 or 6 months.

After taking this basic precaution, in the name of humanism and social cohesion, any and all tax instruments can be selected: pension reduction beyond a minimum level to be negotiated with the social partners (i.e. employer organizations and trade unions), perhaps between 0.8 and 1.3 of the monthly SMIC; contribution to light medical care according to people’s financial resources (e.g. 5 Euros per visit and/or 5 Euros for medicine for those who pay income tax, etc.); 20% VAT plus 5% for anti-relocation VAT allocated to the reduction of companies’ social charges; family allowances granted only to parents who do not pay income tax, etc. These reforms would protect the working and lower-middle classes while affecting the higher-middle and wealthy classes, i.e. those who can thus contribute to the national solidarity effort. People who belong to those well-off groups would be delighted to benefit from the same level of solidarity if they had been less lucky and experienced more knocks.

PROMOTING TEMPORARY WORK AMONG YOUNG GRADUATES
Youth just out of school are not necessarily immediately operational; hence, hiring them is less cost-effective for companies that balk at offering them long-term contracts (they’re not sure about the candidates’ performance) and a sufficient salary (lack of profitability). Besides, it’s in young people’s interest to keep learning in the various companies they could be hired in: the versatility acquired during temporary work (“temp”) contracts will prove to be a considerable professional asset. When there is a real match between the young individual, the job, and the entrepreneur, that is when the youngster will obtain his/her long-term job.
It would thus appear that a prerequisite to long-term employment is extensive experience, particularly through temp work. This type of work contract thus ought to be promoted among young people, particularly as it is being belittled by “insiders”, those who already hold a long-term contract and who wrongly give temping a bad name. Additionally, 20-year-olds should not be too greedy, and temp work is a good deal more formative and lucrative than the drifting brought about by unemployment!

SENDING ALL CITIZENS AN ANNUAL INDIVIDUAL ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT
I fully agree with Laurent Wauquiez when, in La lutte des classes moyennes (The struggle of the middle classes) pp. 136-137, he asks that a statement of what each individual has given the State and received from the State should be drawn up and sent to the citizen concerned. This would increase awareness that everybody benefits from State transfers – though at different levels - and it would promote personal accountability regarding social transfers: the culture of money is nonexistent in France, a catholic country in which money is still either taboo or secret, hidden, shameful. This is also a country where people increasingly demand State help without trying hard enough to manage on their own.

This is what Laurent Wauquiez writes:
“It would make sense to me to ask each French citizen to pay a minimal tax, at a nominal amount, even if that means reducing the CSG [contribution sociale généralisée or general social contribution, a supplementary Social Security contribution] by as much. What really matters is that individuals should be aware that their behavior generates expenses and that is to be found on their income tax sheet. We have got to the point where some people are forever demanding additional help from society; they moan about the slightest restriction, and no longer realize the extent to which French society is, in fact, supporting them most generously. As far as healthcare is concerned, this sense of irresponsibility is particularly acute. Medication and treatments lose their value when they are totally free and no information about them is given. I do believe that it would be a good idea to send the French people an annual summary of the national solidarity sums they have benefited from over the past 12 months. The purpose of such an act would not be to make people feel guilty but to make them aware of the huge sums that national solidarity devotes to their expenses. This type of approach would help promote a sense of accountability. Ultimately, it would be worth thinking of a kind of Republican balance sheet showing on one side what you have contributed to society (the amount of social security contributions, CSG, income tax, etc.) and on the other what society has done for you both in cash (various services, both universal and resource-dependent) and in kind (for education, public infrastructure, etc.). This highly symbolic step would enable all citizens to become aware of their role within a balanced social contract and of their responsibility regarding public expenditure”.

As always, it is a matter of considering the foundations of the Republic, our rights and obligations. It is necessary to remind people of the “obligation” side of things, which French citizens conveniently forget all the more readily as they get used to comfort, with its negative corollary, mental vulnerability.

FINANCING HIGHER EDUCATION
I fully support a significant increase in university fees to an annual registration fee of 1,000 Euros, namely 1 month of net SMIC. We need to find a realistic compromise between the real cost of one year at university and what households can afford. Why? Because France is bankrupt. Because those who benefit most from higher education have a privileged background – they hail from well educated and well-off socioprofessional families. Therefore, because financial transfers must be limited for these categories, already privileged, else other categories would be disadvantaged (working classes, employees); those need classrooms and apprenticeship positions and opportunities in the professional and technical secondary sector. Even if this type of distribution is not inevitable in our republican education system, the statistics are overwhelming.
Laurent Wauquiez does not agree with me on this notion of a significant increase in university fees. Having said that, in order to keep to the spirit of his book, La lutte des classes moyennes (The struggle of the middle classes) pp. 173-178, Wauquiez does put forward a number of good ideas regarding the financing of university studies. Here is what he says:
• “Strengthening the steps designed to support large families by considering the possibility of aligning the registration fees with the “family-quotient system” (family-based taxation)”
• “The first step was taken in 2009 when a State-guaranteed bank loan was created. I suggest we should go further. To help students finance their studies, the State would offer them an interest-free loan. Students would start paying the loan back only when they had obtained their first stable job. There would be a salary-based upper limit on annual repayments so as not to overburden our youth. The higher their salary, the faster they would be able to reimburse their debt.”
• “However, we should also fight the practices of some private owners who take advantage of students by charging exorbitant rents for tiny surface areas, particularly in the large cities. I have joined forces with Benoist Apparu in suggesting taxation on mini-surface areas as a deterrent to such practices.”
• “Students will be able to obtain from partner banks an advance of the bond guarantee, corresponding to one month rent; they will reimburse this interest-free when leaving their lodgings. The CROUS will stand as collateral security, as this often constitutes ground for refusal on the part of agencies and owners towards low-income families.”
The section concludes thus:
“Sometimes, with a little common sense, one can set up useful tools at little cost”. I fully agree!

PROMOTING CIVIC-MINDED SOCIAL EXPERIMENTS
In the section “Humanism against administrativism” included in his book, La lutte des classes moyennes (The struggle of the middle classes) pp. 203-206, Minister Laurent Wauquiez puts forward a number of good practical ideas (and that is precisely what we need, within both Right- or Left-wing politics!) regarding social contract experimenting to revitalize our Rule of Law: “In the post-crisis civic society, we need a facilitating rather than simply regulating State.”
Here is what he says:
• "Mentoring within companies. We waste skills in companies because we don’t know how to organize the transfer of know-how. The different generations ignore one another, seniors are asked to leave overnight, and the youngsters are not helped. To correct this situation, the idea would be to get one youngster and one older worker to team up. The older one takes the young one under his wing, helps him to get his bearings, and passes on his experience. Everybody wins. The company does not lose the human capital that feeds its competitiveness, a lifetime of work is given full meaning through the transfer process, and the youngster can take his first steps in the company safely.
• “A young student who struggles to find lodgings ought to be able to secure a reasonable rent for a room from an older person whose apartment has become too large. In return, the student would commit to regular meals with the older person and small services, such as doing some shopping. This type of intergenerational mutual assistance is not merely a financial arrangement; it is also a means to fight solitude and re-establishing social ties. This type of meaningful give-and-take between a young student and an elderly person used to be seen frequently in our parents’ generation, but it has gradually died off. We need to reactivate the process through, for instance, offering a rental agreement that gives security to both parties.”
• “A young student is offered, for 100 -150 Euros per month, a room in a furnished apartment in a disadvantaged neighborhood; in return, he will spend a few hours each week in a local association tutoring young children, running cultural or sport events, etc. Again, this is the type of initiative that ought to be extended because it strengthens neighborhood ties and promotes social diversity.”

These are not anecdotal examples. Widespread civic social actions linked to a loosening of the overly centralized judicial Jacobin spirit would avoid many concrete problems the French have to face throughout their lives, from the cradle to the old age home.

ENHANCING THE REPUBLICAN SOCIAL CONTRACT
There are books one does not regret having spent time reading. La lutte des classes moyennes (The struggle of the middle classes) by Laurent Wauquiez is one of those for me. Granted, I do not share his defense of the middle classes as a priority; I strongly believe that it is the working classes that experience real hardship and are excluded from the social game. However, Wauquiez makes a number of useful, concrete suggestions (see previous articles) and he has a good approach to what welfare can be in a Republican State. I ask that you read at least chapter 6, “Rights and obligations: the new social contract” and its conclusion, pp. 181-216.
Summary of Chapter 6:
Everyone for himself and no-one for us all
The risk of infantilization: The State can do everything, must do everything – A society of distrust – “I am entitled to” – Lack of public spirit and impunity – Not in my garden – Solitude in the networked society
The middle classes, the backbone of the Republican Pact
Renewing the social contract
A solid foundation, refusing antisocial behavior – Rights and obligations – Responsibility of the elites: we need a few French Bill Gates – Humanism vs. administrativism – Rediscovering making a commitment to others: somewhere between voluntary service and civic service
Conclusion