Dr Jekyll

Our very own Christine Lagarde is an economic superstar and we didn’t even know it. Fortunately others have noticed, namely the jury of British daily newspaper The Financial Times who have voted her, oh yes they have, Finance Minister of the Year. As the paper points out with a very British sense of humour, the judges “loved her performances on the international stage when it came to regulation and the future of banking”.

True enough. She played her part. We have her to thank for the absolute refusal to tax any of the profits made by the French banks who hot-hoofed it off with public money. Those same banks owe her their absolute freedom, since she bluntly declared that allowing the State any kind of oversight of their boards of directors would be seen by them as a sign of mistrust.

The same newspaper underlines what it considers the resilience of the French economy, due of course to Christine Lagarde, but also they write due to a large, stabilising public sector which contributes to the balance of our economy. Have we missed the plot? Isn’t this the same public sector that the government of Nicolas Sarkozy is frenziedly dismantling bit by bit, starting with, for instance, the Post Office? The Financial Times has a great sense of humour! Either that or in Jekyll and Hyde territory they’re making a terrible mistake about Christine Lagarde.