One Thing You Can Always Count On

Congratulations (of sorts) go to French prime minister Manuel Valls for being able to count sheep properly.

Valls staged a vote of confidence in French parliament even though polls show 62% of voters would like president Francois Hollande to step down now.

In spite of what the public wants, Valls was certain of the outcome in advance.

Why? Because a vote of no confidence would have triggered new elections and leftist parties would have gotten clobbered.

Count on This

One thing that is always safe to count on is politicians won't vote themselves out of office.

Sure enough, Valls wins confidence vote and vows to press on with France reform.

France’s prime minister on Tuesday vowed to continue his reformist drive as he won a crucial confidence vote to strengthen his hand in efforts to restart the country’s faltering economy.

Manuel Valls said restoring competitiveness was “indispensable” for reigniting growth yet he stopped short of touching the 35-hour working week or other closely held symbols of his Socialist party’s left.

Reform?

Well then - by all means let's have reform ... as long as it does not touch anything socialists want.

Did this strengthen Valls' hand? Hardly.

This staged maneuver will upset socialists who do not want any reform at all as well as conservatives who want real reforms.

The favorable rating for Hollande is 13%, a new record low. Barring some miraculous turn around in the French economy, expect support for Valls to plunge to new lows as well.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com