Shear Modulus posted:

the politicians never back down on privatization and looting the public purse because those are the only things their paymasters wont accept them backing down on

etalian posted:

It's like when Chicago allowed basic things like parking enforcement and towing to be completely privatized with predictable results.

BULBASAUR posted:

What happened? I'm curious

Microcline posted:

Chicago's cartoonishly corrupt Daley/Emmanuel government sold 75-year exclusive rights to the city's parking meters for a one-time payment of $1.16 billion dollars.

These meters generated over $134 million in the last year alone, and the company has repeatedly billed the city for "lost revenue" due to street closures.

Crowsbeak posted:

I legit believe the neolibs have convinced themselves now they just have to privatize whatever, whenever.

quote:

"It's a lie," complains Mr Dubrul. "The president doesn't want to listen to the people, the yellow-vest movement isn't strong enough yet. We need more people on the streets".

quote:

In a cafe across the road from the town hall Fanny Niquet and Chantal Huger reflect on his decision to get off his "Parisian pedestal".

"He has been very arrogant from the start," says Fanny.

They talk about the struggle of looking after their grandchildren, so their children can make ends meet.

"He needs to raise the low wages, so that people can afford to live", she says.

And if he doesn't act?

"There will be a civil war," they both claim, "a revolution". "There is too much tension now, people are radicalised," says Chantal.

quote:

They are the French bourgeoisie, and this should be safe territory for Macron. At the entrance of the hall his picture hangs high on the wall.

They talk for hours and become increasingly frustrated. Taxes are "too high" and welfare payments "too generous".

OhFunny posted:

At the entrance of the hall his picture hangs high on the wall.

Kurtofan posted:

Oh god, i hope its not the quanon fash trash

OhFunny posted:

So French goons what policies need to be passed to improvement the lot of the French people and not just the 1%. I understand what needs to be rolled back: the repealed wealth tax, the struck down rent controls, the cuts to the welfare state, etc. What needs to come after that?

OhFunny posted:

So French goons what policies need to be passed to improvement the lot of the French people and not just the 1%. I understand what needs to be rolled back: the repealed wealth tax, the struck down rent controls, the cuts to the welfare state, etc. What needs to come after that?

Shear Modulus posted:

Macron Au Goulag

Often Abbreviated posted:

A state being brought to penury and disaster by the neoliberal ideology and austerity obsession of the EU, you say? There used to be some talk of that on these boards, can't recall what the outcome was but I think everyone involved turned out to be racist.

Kassad posted:

Six fontaines lumineuses en cristal et bronze de 13 mètres de haut seront inaugurées le 21 mars sur le Rond-point des Champs-Elysées à Paris

Une idée courageuse dans le climat actuel.

tacodaemon posted:

Kassad posted:

Two French artists are set to install six 13-metre (42-foot) rotating fountains made of crystal and bronze on the Champs-Elysees, adding a new attraction to the famed French avenue.

Sassy Sasquatch posted:

I think if you look past those the major point of contention here is the European Union. The way it's setup to favor tax competition between member states and embrace liberalism as the only way forward is the biggest problem we face. Macron's strategy was supposedly to reform the country (read: enforce more neolib' policies) to cozy up to Merkel and gain more leverage at the EU level. Strangely enough the only part of that plan that was enforced was the neolib' reforms and we're no closer to seeing any reform of the EU. As usual the only reason we're not seeing the benefits here is because we didn't go far enough.

Now that his plan to influence Germany (lol) has failed the options left on the table are:

- Strong-arming the EU to enact social and tax reform that benefit more than the 1%, Germany, and Benelux.
- Leaving the EU
- Kindly sell our state assets, destroy our social safety net and funnel that money to the poor bankers in need who are holding our national debt. Full disclosure: we're already spending 46b a year on interests. That's the equivalent of our entire education budget right there.

Macron is a strong proponent of option 3 so what I'm saying is:

OhFunny posted:

Thanks for the post Sassy. I have been reading a few articles that touch on the fact the underlining problem is that France (and every other country in the Eurozone) is tied to the much larger German economy via monetary union and since it has zero control over it's currency it has zero fiscal tools at its disposal. Such as devaluing or deficit spending to provide stimulus (like when Brussels vetoed the Italian budget).

Shear Modulus posted:

QE is the central banks printing money to buy government debt with the intention of driving up the price of government debt and other ultra-safe investments (from the extra demand) so that maybe private investors wont buy those (because they are more expensive) and will instead invest in non-safe but productive investments like starting a business or loaning it to someone who wants to start a business. it failed to work worldwide because the private investors didnt play along and instead put their money in speculative bullshit like the stock market (ie buying shares of already-existing companies instead of starting new companies) which has become hilariously overvalued, and other sorts of bubbles like real estate and juiceros and bitcoins and the completely new multibillion dollar market for consumers' personal data that have produced big financial returns with no commensurate trickling down to employment or wages or the real economy in general

Boatswain posted:

Germany and France have much more autonomy than other Eurozone countries thanks to their position within the EU.

twoday posted:

Oh hey byolante, welcome back! It’s been an absolute circlejerk of undidvided opinion in here without you, I’m curious to hear what you make of the current situation

Byolante posted:

This stopped being true last year when Selmayer staged his coup and the German head of hr policy stated phasing out term limits on offices held by Germans to remove anyone else from decision making policy.

Boatswain posted:

So who if not France and Germany sets the agenda in the EU(zone)?

Vitamin P posted:

Before 2004 it's complicated but after 2004 it's literally the ECB. Recommend Varoufakis' book And The Weak Suffer What They Must? to get a good primer, some things I disagree with Varoufakis about but he is an actual smart, moral human that has been an insider at the sharp end of the ECB and it's a fantastic book.

Vitamin P posted:

Before 2004 it's complicated but after 2004 it's literally the ECB. Recommend Varoufakis' book And The Weak Suffer What They Must? to get a good primer, some things I disagree with Varoufakis about but he is an actual smart, moral human that has been an insider at the sharp end of the ECB and it's a fantastic book.