By Ben Cohen: Socialist Francois Hollande's victory over Nicolas Sarkozy for the French Presidency could mark the beginning of a new economic era, not just in Europe, but the world. Hollande promised to reverse the austerity measures passed by Sarkozy that has yielded few ...read more

French socialist Francois Hollande has won a clear victory in the country's presidential election. Mr Hollande - who got an estimated 52% of votes in Sunday's run-off - said the French had chosen "change". Admitting defeat, centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy wished "good ...read more

By Ben Cohen: The Economist Magazine is widely read in the business community for a good reason - it largely validates the world view of the rich and seeks to further the ideology of deregulated markets. In many ways, it's a great magazine with succinct writing and ...read more

French President Nicolas Sarkozy believes Sunday's presidential election run-off against Francois Hollande will be decided by the tightest margin. The two rivals took part in a heated debate on Wednesday night, watched by an estimated 17.9 million people. Mr Sarkozy said on ...read more

A majority of supporters of French President Nicolas Sarkozy want his UMP party to strike an alliance with the far-right National Front of Marine Le Pen ahead of parliamentary elections in June, an opinion poll published on Tuesday showed. Sarkozy and other leaders of the ...read more

Francois Hollande, a mild-mannered French Socialist who wants to take better care of the jobless and the poor, is heading to a presidential runoff election against tough-on-immigration Nicolas Sarkozy in a vote that could alter Europe's political and economic landscape. ...read more

A gunman has shot dead a teacher and three children at a Jewish school in the French city of Toulouse. He opened fire on the Ozar Hatorah school in the north-east of the city, also seriously injuring a teenage boy. The attacker fled on a scooter, in similar style to the killer ...read more

A reader writes in response to my post on France's proposed transaction tax on banks: Read you everyday. How can this possibly work? You know as well as I do that any charge applied by the government to the banks will end up being paid for by the consumer. The cost of doing ...read more

Finally, a Western country has taken the initiative in actually making banks pay for the colossal damage they have done. From the BBC: French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced plans to introduce a tax on financial transactions. The 0.1% levy will be introduced in August ...read more

Not good news - the financial crisis in Greece appears to be worsening, threatening the entire global economy as a result. From the Guardian: The French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel will hold emergency talks on Wednesday in a desperate attempt to ...read more