The French dumped capitalism for socialism in their last national election. How's
that working out?
Some business leaders are in a state of quasi-panic,” said Laurence Parisot, head of employers’ group MEDEF.
“The pace of bankruptcies has accelerated over the summer. We are seeing a general loss of confidence by investors. Large foreign investors are shunning France altogether. It’s becoming really dramatic.”
MEDEF, France’s equivalent of the CBI [the Confederation of British Industry], said the threat has risen from “a storm warning to a hurricane warning”, adding that the Socialist government of François Hollande has yet to understand the “extreme gravity” of the crisis. The immediate bone of contention is Article 6 of the new tax law, which raises the top rate of capital gains tax from 34.5pc to 62.2pc. This compares with 21pc in Spain, 26.4pc in Germany and 28pc in Britain.
Nigel Farage, the last sane man in Europe, calls it a "hate tax".
Barack Obama calls it "spreading the wealth"...and while we are not in French territory yet, we are edging there. If he gets four more years, and the "flexibility" that comes with it, well...
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