The meltdowns at Fukushima that have caused so much havoc have also paralyzed Japan’s nuclear power industry. The last of its 54 reactors will be taken off line in May. “Deindustrialization” grips power-starved Japan. TEPCO, owner of the plant, is bailed out with trillions of yen in taxpayer money. And now, halfway around the world, in the EU, nuclear power is lining up to suck at the teat of the taxpayer, but ingeniously, those in other countries.
Europe – France
A Grimy Dipstick into France’s Gritty Economic Realty
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on A Grimy Dipstick into France’s Gritty Economic Realty
The first quarter of 2012 was brutal for businesses in France: 16,206 filed for bankruptcy. A trajectory that may demolish the prior annual record set in 2009 during the financial crisis when 61,595 firms went bust. Since then, bankruptcy filings eased off. Now the direction has changed—and worse, it is hitting larger companies and a lot more jobs. But the French have a solution, one that would violate fundamental rules of the EU.
Taking Bosses Hostage: A Labor Negotiating Tactic In France
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Taking Bosses Hostage: A Labor Negotiating Tactic In France
At 2 p.m on Thursday, the final day of the annual wage negotiations that were going nowhere, Bruno Ferrec, the man in charge of the nine Fnac stores in Paris, was “retained” by 120 of his employees at a conference room at the Hotel Ibis in Paris. “For now, we do not know when we will let him go,” said the representative of the CGT, one of the unions involved in the negotiations. And the police did nothing.
Sarko Spam, “Muslim by Appearance,” and Self-Destruction
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Sarko Spam, “Muslim by Appearance,” and Self-Destruction
The Nightmare of the European Auto Industry
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Nightmare of the European Auto Industry
Europe with its relatively affluent population of 500 million has turned into a nightmare for the auto industry. And the R-word—restructuring—unpalatable and almost illegal as it is in Europe, is being bandied about, this time by Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne, who, as President of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, spoke for all EU automakers. It was a dire warning and a cry for help.
The $10-Per-Gallon Gas Has Arrived, In Paris
by Wolf Richter • • 4 Comments
In early December, Christophe de Margerie, CEO of Total, the Exxon à la Française, shocked the French when he said that there was “no doubt” that a liter of gasoline would reach €2 and that the only question was when. He cited the calamities in the news at the time to justify the skyrocketing prices of oil and gasoline—source of Total’s mega profits. He was talking his book, obviously, which isn’t illegal, not even in France.
Plot Twist While French Businesses Are Dying
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Plot Twist While French Businesses Are Dying
France, tangled up in a presidential election with major implications for the Eurozone, has gotten used to watching President Sarkozy getting clobbered in a historic fashion by socialist Hollande. But on Tuesday, the country woke up to the news—quelle horreur—that their presumed loser was suddenly ahead in the polls. Amidst this chaos, two fundamental cross currents in the French economy went practically unnoticed, though they should have caused an outburst of national soul searching.
Greek Bonds, Dexia Trash, French Postal Service, & Profit
by Wolf Richter • • 5 Comments
Two freaks—Greek bonds and bailout-queen Dexia—wormed their way into an earnings announcement today, this one by the French postal service. It has its share of strategic problems and government interference, much like the United States Postal Service. But it made a profit and will pay a dividend to the French government. Only the USPS is run by 535 clueless micromanagers in Washington.
France: How to Demolish a 75% Income Tax
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on France: How to Demolish a 75% Income Tax
Socialist François Hollande, frontrunner in the French presidential election, tried to score some points against President Sarkozy—criticized for his cozy relationship with the rich. “I don’t like the rich,” he said and followed up on TV with two new income-tax brackets for the rich: 45% and 75%. But now a hullaballoo broke out, not among his targets, the corporate chieftains, but in the world of … soccer. And it’s killing the new tax.
Can’t Even Urinate in his own Yard Anymore
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Can’t Even Urinate in his own Yard Anymore
While some people were fretting over Google’s new “privacy” policy that took effect March 1—“Calling this a ‘privacy policy’ is Orwellian doublespeak,” said John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog—others were counting Google AdSense dollars from their blogs. Ka-ching. Just then, an insidious and at once funny information-age issue erupted in France, or more precisely in a tiny village in Maine-et-Loire.