Will Nicolas Sarkozy succed in transforming the economy of France?
Seduction, however, may not be enough to transform France. France is the biggest public spender relative to its gross domestic product in the 27-country European Union. Its public debt has increased faster than that of any other EU member. The 2008 budget includes a deficit of nearly $59 billion and has been projected on a growth rate that even the government’s own statistical arm calls much too optimistic. The economy is in such bad shape, Prime Minister François Fillon said last month, that the state is “bankrupt” – a term that aides at the Élysée Palace quickly branded as an unfortunate word choice. “The real problem of Nicolas Sarkozy is not that he wants to change things – the country elected him to change things – but that the economy is in such bad shape,” said Manuel Valls, the Socialist mayor of Evry and one of the party’s rising young stars. “He is not an economic liberal like Thatcher or Reagan, but remains a Gaullist at heart. The strategy he has chosen doesn’t support econ
