From Alain Peyrefitte's "Le mal français", published in 1976, which denounced a fussy bureaucracy, an excess of centralization, a weakness of the entrepreneurial spirit and an overly dirigiste state, a work that was a great success, to the latest book by the former governor of the Bank of France, Jacques de Larosière, who wonders if "the French decline is reversible",  there are countless publications that give a negative image of France and its economy. Self-denigration has become a national sport as the systematic criticism of everything that should be considered successes.

Nuclear power provides a first example ...

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The restoration of the balance of the general pension system has been a major factor of political instability in France for nearly three years. The decision in 2023 to raise the legal retirement age to 64 generated deep discontent that was not without consequences for the outcome of the 2024 European elections. The legislative elections that followed the dissolution decided by the President of the Republic once again reflected this discontent and deprived the country of a majority in the National Assembly. The new government appointed after these elections was then censured by proposing a bill to finance social security ...

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We remember the phrase attributed to General de Gaulle: "Brazil is a country of the future and it will remain so for a long time". Perhaps he was inspired by Stefan Zweig's book, "Brazil, Land of the Future", written in 1941 shortly after settling in the country to flee Nazism. The question is still relevant today, when we see the tremendous transformation that has taken place in China and the rapid growth that India is experiencing today. Why has a country with such large nature reserves and which offers the world exceptional writers, musicians or architects such as Oscar ...

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