The French-American Foundation Weekly Brief

CNN reported that workers from multiple sectors walked off the job, calling for the government to do more to assuage the effects of the economic downturn. Le Point explained which unions were striking and how the stoppage will affect different areas of the economy. Bernard Thibault, secretary general of the CGT, one of France’s largest unions, explained the goals of the strike in an interview with Le Monde. Laurence Parisot, president of France’s employers union, called the strike an “easy answer that isn’t really a response” to the crisis, according to Challenges.

French leaders once again discussed the merits of the bouclier fiscal, or “tax shield” and whether this 50 percent maximum tax limit should be changed in light of the economic crisis, said RFI. Budget Minister Eric Woerth said that such a change was out of the question: “We can’t change our mind every other day; that would be a mistake,” according to Le Figaro. L’Express explained exactly what the bouclier fiscal is and whom it benefits the most.

The move to bring France back into NATO was ratified by parliament in a vote of 329 for to 238 against, according to the BBC. A piece in Foreign Policy analyzed the move in the larger context of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plans for France. Reuters contended that the influence of Charles de Gaulle’s political legacy is “fading” in France. Defense News reported that France is expected to double its spending on arms in 2009.

French physicist and scientific philosopher Bernard d’Espagnat received the £1 million Templeton Prize for contribution to religious thought, according to New Scientist. According to the Times of London, Dr. d’Espagnat’s years of work on quantum theory have brought him to the conclusion that “science cannot fully explain the nature of being.”

See also:  
– TIME: France cracks down on illegal downloads.
– The Christian Science Monitor: A crime to help illegal immigrants?

Commentators and the public officials were in high dudgeon over news that insurance giant AIG paid employees an estimated $165 million in bonuses after receiving bailout money from the federal government, according to Le Figaro. The Economist presented the legal options that President Barack Obama may have to “claw back the money” from executives. Edward Liddy, chairman and CEO of AIG, responded to criticisms of the company’s bailout in an op-ed in the Washington Post. A post at the Foreign Policy blog explained exactly where the AIG bailout money is going.

An article in Les Inrockuptibles discussed the state of French literature in translation in the United States and why the American audience reads so few French books.

Der Spiegel interviewed President Obama’s new Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who discussed immigration, the continued threat of terrorism and the changing tone in Washington. The USA blog at RTL looked at the process of shuttering the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and asked whether France would accept detainees before next January.

LCI reported that former President George W. Bush gave his first speech as an ex-president in Calgary. Radio-Canada described the politically charged scene at the site of the former president’s visit. 7sur7 noted that the former president refrained from criticizing President Obama, saying that the current president “deserves my silence.”

See also:
– The Chicago Council: U.S. leadership in reducing global poverty.
– The American Interest: The future of American capitalism.

A study from the World Bank identified 47 measures that  certain governments have taken that restrict trade at the expense of other countries. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the United States and the EU may be reaching a resolution on a long-standing dispute over beef trade.  The Cato-at-Liberty blog reported that new U.S. trade rules could end a program that has allowed Mexican truck drivers to deliver goods to destinations inside the United States. The Financial Times noted that the Mexico government will respond by increasing tariffs on 90 industrial and agricultural goods totaling $2.4 billion in U.S. exports.

The Wall Street Journal reported the increasing number of Americans who are looking to Europe to acquire their MBAs, noting that at INSEAD at Fontainebleau, U.S. students currently outnumber all other nationalities for the first time.

La Tribune reported the joint call by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Sarkozy for a “new financial architecture” to be set up at the upcoming G20 meeting in London. The Washington Post noted that the two heads of state urged other countries to “keep emergency government spending on national stimulus plans as low as possible.” In the New York Times, economist Paul Krugman said that he is “concerned about Europe” and that the continent is not effectively responding to the financial crisis. An analysis from Eurointelligence asked whether fiscal stimulus plans in the Eurozone should be coordinated.

ABC News explained the 60 different indicators that U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geither uses to measure the health of the economy, including mortgage rates, multiple stock market indexes, consumer confidence, currency readings, and the commercial paper rate. The BBC looked at Cantal, an area of rural France that seems to be immune to the economic gloom, boasting a booming economy with an unemployment rate of under 5 percent.

See also:
– Council on Foreign Relations: The dangers of deglobalization.
– The Moscow Times: A new supranational reserve currency.

Weeks of domestic turmoil in Madagascar culminated with opposition leader (and former disc jockey) Andry Rajoelina becoming president with the support of the army, according to the New York Times. Foreign Policy provided a slideshow of images from the coup, and the Associated Press explained the country’s history of political unrest.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman came to Paris for a state visit, the first for an Arab country’s head of state since President Sarkozy took office, according to RFI. The Elysée palace’s website provided video of President Sarkozy’s remarks at the state dinner.

Bernard-Henri Levy argued in the New Republic that France’s rejoining NATO is a “happy return.” The BBC analyzed the reintegration of France in the context of its historically strained relationship with the United States and the UK. A video debate at Lesinfos.com asked whether France will lose its independence as part of NATO?

As the EU transfers control of its military operation in Chad to the UN, the New York Times looked back on this “first major test” of the bloc’s military arm outside the NATO alliance.

See also:
– Wilson Center: The economic and political sources of civil conflict.
– Hürriyet: An enlargement lull for the EU.

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