Bonum Certa Men Certa

Understanding Thierry Breton: The “Cost-Killer” Tries to Tame the National Debt

Overview





Understanding Thierry Breton



Further parts pending review and research




Breton at Bercy
The new boss at Bercy strikes a hawkish pose.



Summary: The oligarchic policy of Thierry Breton at Bercy

Breton's economic policy focused on the need to reform public finances, specifically to reduce the national debt.



In June 2005 he declared that France was living beyond its means, a sentiment echoing the words of the Prime Minister Raymond Barre in 1976. He announced to the French people that the entirety of their income tax was only sufficient to finance the interest payments on the national debt and declared that his primary goal would be the maintenance of public deficit below a level of 3% of GDP in 2005 and 2006.

"Breton's economic policy focused on the need to reform public finances, specifically to reduce the national debt."At the end of 2005 France's deficit fell to 2.9% of its GDP after three consecutive years of surpassing the figure of 3%. In 2006 the public deficit was further reduced to 2.5% and public debt was recorded to have dramatically fallen to 63.9% of GDP. For the first time since 1995 the country's budget was in a situation of primary surplus.

Although Breton gained some acclaim for his efforts in tackling the national debt situation, the general perception of him was as a pro-business advocate of ultra-liberal reforms for the benefit of the few rather than the many.

"Although Breton gained some acclaim for his efforts in tackling the national debt situation, the general perception of him was as a pro-business advocate of ultra-liberal reforms for the benefit of the few rather than the many."For example, in an interview with Le Figaro, Breton criticised France's wealth tax, "l'impôt de solidarité sur la fortune" (ISF) stating that it had become "no longer a wealth tax, but simply yet another tax on the savings and housing of our fellow citizens, who are by no means all wealthy". For Breton, it was a "costly" and "economically dangerous" tax.

A cartoon from this period pokes fun at his stance on the ISF by referring to the "intense emotion" generated in the National Assembly with a plea to the parliamentary deputies to open their hearts to "all those poor wealthy people who are obliged to leave this country of misery in a clandestine manner in their luxury yachts…"

Breton cartoon
Breton generates intense emotion with a plea to parliamentary deputies to open their hearts to "all those poor wealthy people ... obliged to flee France in their luxury yachts".



Breton's term as Minister came to an end on 15 May 2007 at the conclusion of Jacques Chirac's five-year term as President of France. His successor was Jean-Louis Borloo, appointed as Minister of the Economy by the newly elected President, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Breton walks
The Minister for Funny Walks preparing to return to the greener pastures of the private sector



Before looking at what Thierry did next, we will take a small diversion to examine some "incidents" which cast a shadow over his term of office in Bercy, most notably "Rhodiagate", the Vivendi Universal affair and the insider trading scandal at EADS.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Nobody Knows What's in Our Fridge! Wow, Spooky!
Freedom means you can also purchase things anonymously
 
Trans People Misused to Attack a Project or Developer Who Has Nothing to Do With Them
And why that truly hurts all trans people
[Meme] It Takes Only Words to Destroy Malicious People and Pathological Liars
Trying to silence us is foolish. Boasting about this in public is worse than foolish; it's a legal liability.
Our 18+ Years of Freedom-Fighting
We always fight back
Gemini Links 11/11/2024: Men Losing Grip and "You're Relaxing Wrong"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, November 10, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, November 10, 2024
Freedom Must Always Be Fought For (All the Time)
Ridicule of "freedom fighters" in the digital realm is typically orchestrated by dictators or wannabes.
Gemini Links 10/11/2024: Taking Jokes and Writing Dense Assembly
Links for the day
Links 10/11/2024: Meaning of Life and iPhone ‘Inactivity Reboot’
Links for the day
Links 10/11/2024: Microsoft Adds Surveillance to Notepad and Paint, TikTok Shutdown Order
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/11/2024: Scrawlspace and California
Links for the day
Links 10/11/2024: Politics, Economics, and Ticketmaster Issues
Links for the day
Linux Foundation: We've Shut Down the Mailing Lists and Fired Everyone at Linux.com So We Can Spend Money Buying Puff Pieces and Paying Clickfraud/Spammers
deeply rogue
The 'Other' Bruce... on Openwashing at OSI (and Not Bruce Perens, the OSI's Co-founder)
Openwashing people (connected to Microsoft) already do "open weights"
Gemini Links 10/11/2024: A Writer's Block, VIM Tips and Tricks
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, November 09, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, November 09, 2024
[Meme] Linux Foundation Cuts
money is spent by the million on highly dubious things
Politics Becoming Way Too 'Toxic'
'Toxic' political discourse ought to be covered, but reducing the toxicity of coverage itself (e.g. inaccurately covering things to incite "the left" and "the right") is still challenging
"Paperless Office" (Incompatible With the Law) as a Threat to Workers' Health at the EPO, Europe's Second-Largest Institution and Largest Patent Office
"Software Ergonomics need to be brought back to the agenda at a high level!"
Linux Foundation is Rebuilding the Berlin Wall (to Keep Russians Out of Linux)
So the Linux Foundation is basically acting a bit like oppressive Soviets
Linux Foundation is a Scam Like 'Crypto' (So is the Company of Jim Zemlin's Wife, Bakkt)
To us, the Linux Foundation is just a massive scam
Remembering and Respecting Fallen Ones by Avoiding or Stopping Wars (and Boycotting Companies That Want Wars)
The people who die tend to be the least privileged and connected
EPO is Blasting Its Own Foot (There Will be No EPO Left)
If the EPO carries on shooting its own foot, there will be nothing left of it
There's Always a Way to Improve
Self-improvement is a perpetual task
Joel Espy Klecker, unpaid, terminally ill youth labor & Debian knew it
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
List of Debian lies and deception
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 09/11/2024: More Mass Layoffs and Concerns About Musk Working Like Trump Aide
Links for the day
Gemini Links 09/11/2024: Operating the Temple System and SeaweedFS
Links for the day
[Teaser] [Meme] Central Occupational Health, Safety and Ergonomics Committee (COHSEC) at European Patent Office (EPO)
These are not teenage gamers
Links 09/11/2024: Further Restrictions on Social Control Media, CASIO Cracked Again
Links for the day
Why Brown CIT Oughtn't Be Named After Thomas J. Watson (Like Many Faculties Ought Not be Named After Bill Gates)
In their own words
Reminder That Mass Layoffs Are Going on All Month This Month at IBM
The "silent" layoffs continue until the end of this month if not longer
[Meme] Just Blame Whoever Takes Advantage of Your Back Doors
The media will even sympathise with malicious and/or incompetent companies if they blame "Russia"
This Remembrance Sunday We Must Also Remember That Some 'Security Companies' Want More Cyberwar
Some companies profit from the cyberwar; hence, their objective is not to end the war
Non-Tech Enshittification: Post Office Perils and the Czech is in the Mail
We still hope that the parcel will be recovered (maybe at customs) or will be sent back some day
[Meme] Don't Try This at Home (But a Datacentre Might be OK)
Quit outsourcing to Social Control Media
There's No Free Lunch in Video Hosting
they say there's no free lunch; if you aren't paying for hosting and serving of "your" videos, you're not the customer and those videos, once uploaded, aren't quite yours anymore
Parroting Microsoft Talking Points About Computer Security
This past summer Richard M. Stallman (RMS) openly complained in a public event that the term "security" had come to mean all sorts of ridiculous things, including the very oppose of real security
Visits to OpenAI's Site Plunged by More Than 67% in the Past Half a Year Alone
'autocorrect on steroids' is mostly worthless
Pocock Running for Office Again
Pocock dealt with all sorts of 'politics' in Free software and, unlike many politicians, he has a background in science and technology
[Meme] Turning the EPO Into a Speculation Bank, Monetising It by Breaking the Law, Playing Real Estate (and Mortgage) Financial Games
travesty
Real Estate and Workplace Problems at the European Patent Office, Which Grants Fake Patents Under the Guise of "Law"
Report on the 54th meeting of the Munich LOHSEC of 20 June 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, November 08, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, November 08, 2024
Links 09/11/2024: Politics, Climate, and Why Physical Cash is Crucial
Links for the day
Gemini Links 09/11/2024: Minerals, Rants, and Maintaining Planetary Balance
Links for the day