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

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

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
  Nov 9, 2018

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

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

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

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

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

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

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

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

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

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

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

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

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

• By Ben Cohen
  Nov 9, 2018

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

• By Ben Cohen
  Feb 18, 2016