Goodbye France

By Rob Janicki
By the time you read this the world as we know it may have already come to an end.  Okay, maybe not quite an end as we know it, but an end to reason in Europe. 

[...] Nicolas Sarkozy  suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of  Francois Hollande, who ran on a platform of tearing up last December’s controversial deal to save the euro from oblivion.  [...]  


The good news is that Sarkozy still has a hot wife...at least for the moment.

Sarkozy is a conservative and conservatives have ruled France for the past 17 years.  The problem with the French concept of a conservative is nothing close to what Americans think of as conservative.  Conservatives in France are about as far apart on the political spectrum as any two random folks riding on a NYC subway car at rush hour.

[...]  The inexperienced Mr Hollande is now seeking talks with the European Central Bank and German Chancellor Angela  Merkel to demand further borrowing to boost growth.  [...]

Check that last statement.  Hollande is going to demand the Germans provide further borrowing for France to boost French Growth.  There has to be a punch line to this joke, but I'll leave it to the readers to fill it in and amuse themselves in the process.

Seriously, I am practically at loss for what to say to that last thought.  Hollande and the French Socialists are tax and spend socialists on steroids.  Germany is tired of supporting failed members of the EU and it is doubtful that Germany will go along with supporting the new French regime.  But that's only half the problem with the French Socialist Party victory.  It seems there is a distinct possibility that it may embolden the Greeks, who were just beginning to realize on some level that austerity might be their only option to forestall a complete financial collapse, to return to their profligate spending habits.

The point to be made is that this is looking more like a falling domino scenario with France and Greece leading the way to financial and fiscal ruin.  If this even comes close to fruition, it is most likely to doom the European Union.  A dissolution of the EU might present as many problems as would trying to prop up Greece and France.  Perhaps that is what France and Greece are counting on.

Look to the world wide markets to become riled and unstable beginning Monday, May 7, and lasting for some unknown period until reason returns or reality sets in, which ever occurs first.