Through honeymoon speculation is already enough—from all sides—to dampen the mood, French President-Elect François Hollande, neither unknown nor unseasoned, is certainly promising to be exciting and surprising. The petty tyrants of business have already passed judgement, and while I genuinely believe that Hollande does not care about the drift of opinion or the promissory notes of campaign, his declaration that the financial system is his true adversary and not antagonists with more conservative beliefs may cause some critics and short-term market-watchers to condemn him as a caricature socialist, I don’t think that this individual is one to dismiss. Hollande is not an anti-business radical, and perhaps with the support of a broad collation domestically and beyond the borders of France, his platform and priorities could restore an essential balance, which in the long-term, as opposed to the daily fluctuations and appraisals that drive so much of the markets and profiteers seeking to skim what’s possible in the short-term, could create a more stable economic environment through personal achievement and initiative—and quality of life should always trump the profits of the few.
Concomitant Sunday voting in Schleswig-Holstein and parliamentary elections in Greece had the common theme of a shift in power and attitude driven by debt and so trepidation that the new regime won't be held responsible for the mistakes of those unseated. Meanwhile, Russia swore in its once-and-future king. Economically, Hollande is not only advocating the creation of European credit rating agencies independent of the valuations and biases of the American financial empire, running zero deficits, and introducing a tax-regime is progressive without being disruptive to competition and employment (plus assistance for small business), he is also advocating greater alliances with Germany, pooling the better part of competition and eliminating redundancies. Something necessary that no one else has been bold enough to campaign on too is the segregation of financial institutions, allowing no savings and loan to venture into investments—which propelled the financial crisis in the first place and whose break-up made be able to help undo some of the
asceticism (fiscal austerity measures) offered up, like restoring the retirement age and hiring more public-sector workers. His long term relationship with former French presidential hopeful, Ségolène Royal, who stared down arch-conservatives back in 2007, suggests that he has more than a bit of fortitude and probably won’t let these pledges be forgotten. Parallel, and with a strong mandate from the voters, his social platform seems innovative and redresses some of the anti-social backwardness that has been institutionalised of late—significantly, bringing about equality in marriage, reforming immigration policy, diversifying energy sources away from nuclear power, and protecting and promoting France’s varied regional languages, like Gallo, Gascon, Picard, Provençal, Asatian, Languedoc and Breton, and no longer insisting on monoglot French. Allegiance and accomplishment are not being tossed aside, but I suspect there will be some interesting developments for France and the European Union under new leadership.
