Sardanapale

Le Monde hails Sarkozy’s “liberal (i.e. pro-market) clarification”.

According to the paper, the French president will be much more forceful and coherent in reforming the economy his second year in office than he was in his first.

Le Monde praises the centerpiece of his new program, the “law on economic modernisation”, saying it marks a “resolute acceptance of supply side policy.”

Would that it was true. I too support the bill, which aims to encourage an entrepreneurial society by cutting red tape, strengthening competition, and generally putting consumers first.

But I doubt that the move will deliver the “rupture” that Sarkozy once promised – for two main reasons.

The first is that he may already have blown his chances. During his first six months in office, Sarkozy wasted a strong popular mandate for change and huge majority.

He implemented some reforms but balked at radical measures such as scrapping the 35-hour week, and shied away from confrontation with vested interest.

I can’t see how he can re-invent himself as an effective modernizer after running out of political capital.

But the more fundamental reason to be skeptical is that Sarkozy is not a conviction politician in the mould of Reagan or Thatcher.

He is only a lukewarm reformer. The Economist hit the nail on the head when it wrote recently:

“For at the heart of Sarkonomics is a contradiction: Mr Sarkozy promises both to create an entrepreneurial, risk-taking society and to protect workers, factories and jobs.

When he was running for president, his campaign stop of preference was the factory floor, where he would surround himself with industrious-looking men in hard hats and promise never to let France lose its factories, because, “Once the factories go, everything goes.”

He may call himself a liberal but he also believes in national champions, and in a strong industrial policy to defend them.”