Friday 6 February 2009

The Monsieur's Not For Turning

A few months ago President Nicolas Sarkozy was telling the French they needed to be emulating the successful Anglo-Saxon economic model. This, he insisted, was the way forward.

Last night President Nicolas Sarkozy was on television telling the French that the Anglo-Saxon economic model was not to be followed and he would be strenuously avoiding emulating it because it was a complete and utter disaster, rubbish, a heap of merde and absolutely not the way forward, or words to that effect.

Wonderful thing hindsight. The only thing astonishing about this is that nobody in France, not the press, the television, the radio, not even the Opposition, the Unions or the Communists, nobody (except the Frenchman) has pointed out this political U-turn.

As someone who is paid in coins and notes bearing Her Majesty's head - or electronic transfers of same - but spends in euros bearing pictures of bridges, pacifists, cloudberries, harps, Spartas, popes, flying swans and owls, I am being crunched.

Personally, I refuse to believe there is an economic crisis in the UK while British people are bidding more for second-hand Mini-Boden coats on eBay than they are being sold new on the company's website. Are they mad or do they have more money than sense?

I rest my case, M'Lud.

5 comments:

Penni Russon said...

Personally, I refuse to believe there is an economic crisis in the UK while British people are bidding more for second-hand Mini-Boden coats on eBay than they are being sold new on the company's website.

Now that's a financial crisis.

lovelyprism said...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has doubts about the alleged global economic crisis.

Dumdad said...

It's a huge government conspiracy to enfeeble us and make the rich richer. Comme d'hab.

Iota said...

I do believe the credit crunch, but of course there will always be winners as well as losers.

I've never quite understood ebay. I think it thrives on people's inherent desire to buy and sell, which seems to exist in a way only loosely attached to the objects being bought and sold.

Cimon said...

I respectfully dissent : Bernard Maris savored every word of Nicolas Ier (and France Inter is quite a mainstream radio) :

http://www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/chro/ledebateconomique/

(it is the feb. 6th broadcast and it's in French).

The Frenchman is not that alone.