Obama/Hollande 2012

The Socialist candidate Francois Hollande won the run-off election over the weekend and will be the next President of France, succeeding the incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy.  In case you didn't know, here is one of Hollande's most popular campaign pledges:

Hollande has pledged to tax the very rich at 75 percent of their income, an idea that proved wildly popular among the majority of people. The measure would bring in only a relatively small amount to the budget, and tax lawyers say France's taxes have always been high and unpredictable and that this may not be as much of a shock as it sounds.

But it's interesting that even the AP report admits that the increase, which in the next breathe it denies the seriousness of the increase, will do next to nothing to help the budget (sounds strangely similar to something else...).

Another campaign pledge of Hollande's is to shift away from the budget austerity that has been supposedly sweeping through Europe.   But over at NRO, Vernonique de Rugy wonders in what universe these supposed massive budget cuts are taking place:

Look at this chart. It is based on Eurostat data which you can find here. Following years of large spending increases, Spain, the United Kingdom, France, and Greece — countries widely cited for adopting austerity measures — haven’t significantly reduced spending since 2008. As you can see on this chart:These countries still spend more than pre-recession levels

• France and the U.K. did not cut spending.
• In Greece, and Spain, when spending was actually reduced — between 2009–2011 — the cuts have been relatively small compared to what is needed. Also, meaningful structural reforms were seldom implemented.
• As for Italy, the country reduced spending between 2009 and 2010 but the data shows and uptick in spending 2011. The increase in spending represents more than the previous reduction.

The most important point to keep in mind is that whenever cuts took place, they were always overwhelmed by large counterproductive tax increases. Unfortunately, that point is often overlooked. This  approach to austerity — some spending cuts with large tax increases — is what President Obama has called the “balanced approach.”

As I was just watching Fox News, Charles Krauthammer said exactly was I was going to say on this subject:  Contrary to Hollande's economic policies helping raise revenue, tax revenues will decrease and will put France into a greater hole than it is in right now.