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The support is not official, but the formula leaves little room for doubt. The U.S. treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, "believes that the experience and solid leadership skills of the Minister Lagarde make her an exceptionally gifted candidate for the general direction of the IMF." In the race to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn to head the institution, is a way for Washington to support the European rather than his rival Mexican Agustin Carstens.

This statement therefore encourage what Christine Lagarde who must, on Thursday, passing his oral exam before the Board of the IMF. She must convince the 24 members it is the most capable of governing the IMF in the current turmoil. Agustin Carstens, he led his interview Tuesday.

The Mexican Fund for an impartial

During this session, had said Monday the institution, "each candidate will present his views on issues facing the Fund and its member states, and administrators will be able to interact with the candidates." Mexicans called for an increased IMF resources permanent, impartial, representing more emerging economies on its board of directors.

Christine Lagarde was in turn focus his presentation on an IMF "responsive, cooperative, legitimate and fair." So far, she expressed hostility to a restructuring of the Greek debt. When asked whether she was confident before the interview, the French Minister exclaimed: "Forever!".

Two shadows loom, however, about his candidacy. First, the case Tapie, who has rebounded earlier this week, and the Greek crisis.Brazil has indicated, through his representative at the IMF, Paulo Nogueira Batista, he expected the future Director to hold a position of severe vis-à-vis Greece: "We need strong action to obtain from Athens, and a clear financial commitment on the part of the euro area. A general statement is inadequate. " A position held since the beginning of his campaign by Agustin Carstens, who says he even opened a debt restructuring if necessary.

Preordained

For many observers, however, the game is a foregone conclusion for Christine Lagarde. "The French Minister on course to win," and headlined the Wall Street Journal on Thursday morning. She enjoys the strong support from almost all European countries, over 15% of the vote.One member of the board should, however, provide support to Agustin Carstens: Mexican director representing Spain and Latin America, 4.7% of the vote. Brazil has not made clear in his favor.

The decision should ultimately be taken on the basis of consensus, not wanting the institution or place one of its member countries is at odds vis-à-vis a future director or humiliate an unsuccessful candidate. The outcome of the deliberations is expected Tuesday at the earliest, and June 30 at the latest.

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In real estate, Paris is not France. So goes the refrain sung Thursday by the Higher Council of Notaries. In the capital, in fact, prices never stop rising. Last year, the increase was 17.5% and per square meter was worth, on average, 7330 euros in old housing. The boom continued in early 2011. "From December 2010 to February 2011, prices rose 5.2%, says Mr. Thierry Delesalle, president of the real estate commission of notaries in the Ile-de-France. In twelve month rolling period, from June 2010 to June 2011, we will not be far from the 20% increase. "Soon, the ceiling of 8,000 euros per square meter in Paris will be reached.

Relying on the promises of sales in the first quarter of 2011 signed, notaries believe the square meter in Paris will average 8,028 euros in June. This will rise to 15,500 euros in even the most expensive neighborhood in the capital, the Champs-Elysees.And this movement does not seem ready to break if we are to judge by the large number of transactions: first quarter in Ile-de-France, they rose 16%.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the graphic.

Fewer foreigners in Paris

Contrary to popular belief, foreigners are not responsible for the rampant price increases because they are less active than before the Paris market: last year, they accounted for 6.5% of buyers against 7.6% in 2009. The result? "We should see the price differences widen between areas traditionally preferred properties such as Paris and those economically disadvantaged in which a decrease has already been committed," said Pierre Bazaille, president of the Institute for Notarial real estate guaranteed online payday loans. In fact, in the province, the changes are more chaotic.Overall, prices have also increased but less dramatically than in Paris. They set up in 2010 by 4.7% for older apartments and 10% for houses. But since early this year, the situation is contrasted by areas or cities.

In Lille, for example, home prices fell 6% to 170,000 euros on average in Bordeaux, one of the apartments has decreased by 1%. Less than 3% also for apartments in Rennes, where the square meter is now worth 2212 euros. On the other hand, for apartments, in Brest, the price per square foot rose by 7% to 1527 euros per square meter. The increase is more limited but very real (+3%) in Lyon, where the square meter is 3102 euros.

Difficult, with that, whether property prices will rise or decline this year in France. According to Mr. Pierre Bazaille, the trend towards a higher but moderate (between 0 and 3%).A development that will depend on exogenous factors such as rising interest rates on mortgages or advertisements referring to the SP in its program the rent freeze.

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The ousted leader of the Michelin and Danone takes top spot in 2011 salaries of bosses Cac 40 prepared by Les Echos. Michel Rollier has received compensation of 4.5 million euros for 2010. Frank Riboud, head of Danone, he pocketed 4.4 million euros last year and takes the second spot on the podium, followed by the CEO of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, who won 3.9 million euros in total compensation. In total, the Cac 40 bosses have affected more than 98.3 million euros in compensation. The average CEO salaries Cac 40 amounted to 2.46 million per officer, up 24% compared to 2009.

The first of the three managers sponsored by Michelin also holds the record for pay increases: salary soared 505%.This increase is directly related to the rise of the findings of Michel Rollier as not receiving a fixed salary but only secured a bonus based on the results of the giant tires.

This peculiarity makes his annual compensation very volatile from one year to another, as in the previous ranking, published in 2010 and based on total compensation patterns in 2009, the envelope of Michel Rollier displayed in downturn 303% compared to the one he had seen in 2008. He then pocketed 743,000 euros, which was then the lowest pay of executives within the Cac 40. This end up filing returns this year to the CEO of STMicroelectronics, Carlo Bozotti, with 903,000 euros.Penultimate winners of 2011, the CEO of Renault shows a total compensation of 1.2 million, unchanged from last year: Carlos Ghosn has in fact waived his variable compensation following the fiasco caused by the false case of espionage.

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Nuclear, taxes, competitiveness, reform of the eurozone. Prime Minister Francois Fillon has outlined his vision of Franco-German couple in a double interview with the weekly new plant and Wirtschaftwoche. "We need more coordination and coherence between us, Germans and French, he says. We must encourage convergence (…), without any goal of fusion (…). We have launched an exercise of such taxation. We wish to extend to all aspects of competitiveness. "

Nuclear. France does not follow Angela Merkel's desire to abandon nuclear energy, has made it clear lines between the Prime Minister. Fukushima disaster "raises a debate on nuclear policy," he acknowledges. "We must learn all the lessons to enhance the safety of our park."

Taxation.The example of rapprochement between Paris and Berlin tax should be extended to the entire euro area, defended the prime minister. The Pact for the euro, adopted March 11, said he provides "a real commitment to fiscal coordination" in order to end the "harmful tax practices of certain states." But not to the point of "having a single tax," he says.

Competitiveness. In addition to taxes, Francois Fillon wants to follow the example of German industry. "The industrial competitiveness of Germany is a chance for Europe", he explains. His goal? Make French industry "as competitive as German industry."

Purchasing power. During the last decade, the Germans have made great efforts, particularly in wages, to be more competitive.The Franco-German rapprochement does not mean that the French will make the same sacrifices, has implied François Fillon: "Despite the crisis, we have ensured that the purchasing power is constantly evolving and it will still be the case in 2011 .

Public finances. No question of raising taxes to restore fiscal balance. It should rather decrease spending, repeated the prime minister. Asked about the VAT increase, he said that "the current environment of rising inflation does not lend itself entirely to an increase in VAT. Priority is given to reducing tax loopholes.

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Even Eric Besson went there for his comment: "The industrial morale improved in March (…), reaching its highest level since late 2007, welcomed on Thursday the Minister of Industry, who "production prospects point to a growth above the long-term average." He rarely says Bercy indicators as technical as those on the industrial morale.

But figures published by INSEE actually quite surprising: despite the crisis of the euro, the earthquake in Japan and soaring oil prices consecutive revolutions in Arab countries, the French industrial morale was set at 109 points this month, 3 percentage points higher than February. A trend confirmed by the publication, in the wake of the PMI purchasing managers, stood at 56.6 points, up significantly, too, compared to February.

After a blip in the third quarter of 2010, both of these indicators are returned to levels close to their highs. Levels consistent, according to analyst firm Markit, which produces the PMI, "with growth of 0.7% in the first quarter, or more, possibly around 0.9%. "The French economy seems to have ended the first quarter on a not particularly fast," said Chris Williamson, economist at Markit.In detail, new orders sent to the industrial and service companies are growing at their fastest pace since September 2000.

"Positive Outlook"

France is no exception: "The global industrial production continues to grow and in January it exceeded by nearly 4% above its early 2008 high point observed, within the Group of Industrial Federations (GFI) and WCC Rexecode in their memorandum of industrial economic spring cash advance now. If production is still lagging behind its pre-crisis levels in Europe, especially France, but the gap is expected to reverse in the coming months.

"The investment industry could rebound 14% in 2011," predicts WCC Rexecode.Especially as the financial capacity of companies have improved overall, as evidenced by the low percentage (11%) of industrial enterprises face today acknowledging cash flow problems. They were 25% in this case at the height of the crisis. Overall, "the intensity of the recovery in France is comparable to that of American industry, but less strong than in Germany," says Peter Gattaz, president of GFI, who said "this positive outlook should be accompanied a stabilization of industrial employment. " In fact, with 3.56 million employees identified by WCC Rexecode late 2010, the industrial workforce grew 0.2% last year.

An encouraging sign, although since its highs in late 2000 (4.4 million jobs) sector has been hit hard.All these signs bode well when the GFI will launch on April 4, his first week of the industry to develop this sector with French, and especially young people.

While China has already provided support to European countries struggling with debt problems, such as Spain or Portugal, it could again give them a boost. The central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, said on Friday that "despite difficulties in some European countries, China supports strong to overcome their budgetary difficulties and succeed in their economic recovery."

Moreover, Zhou Xiaochuan said China is "very confident in the euro area and its ability to overcome the crisis. What about European countries in difficulty, the governor said: "We have confidence in their economic prospects." A response to the wave of downgrades by Moody's sovereign these days, that hit Greece and Spain.

China pledged last year to support the euro zone countries face the rising cost of sovereign debt, worsened by U.S. rating agencies. The Spanish daily El Pais had reported in early January that the Chinese government planned to buy six billion euros of debt in Spain. In December, the Portuguese daily Jornal de Negocios wrote that Beijing was ready to buy five billion euros of debt Portuguese. At the end of last year, the chief economist of the bank Natixis, Patrick Artus, had considered buying Chinese Greek debt to several hundred million euros. Beijing has never confirmed any of these amounts.

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"If there is no business of espionage, I would draw all the consequences." Two months after the layoff, then the dismissal of three senior officers suspected of espionage, Patrick Pelata, number two of Renault, is clearly against the wall.

Tense, he broke his silence in an exclusive interview with Le Figaro. With great gravity he puts into play its responsibilities within the constructor. One way for him to remember that bear the consequences of this case but also to protect Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault and Nissan. For the past few days, the plot thickens.

An inside source says Le Figaro that a member of the security service stubbornly refuses to cooperate with the law to provide information.In particular, the identity of the outside investigator who recovered all the information that led to the identification of bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. However, according to this source, mute the employee was "the only contact with the informant outside of Renault, who has supplied all private investigation." On two occasions, management, disturbed by this attitude, it would have sent written and oral orders remained dead letters. Accordingly, the employee has been drawing up a report indicating his refusal to cooperate.

The development of Squarcini

Faced with this situation, Patrick Pelata longer does the group is a victim of manipulation guaranteed unsecured personal loan."There are two hypotheses, either Renault suffered a case of espionage, or manipulation." This double scenario was brought Monday to the attention of the Prime Minister and Eric Besson Minister of Industry. If the conclusions of the investigation lead to the removal of all doubts about the guilt of the three frames, the number two at Renault ensures that the manufacturer will repair any attention to the injustices and propose to reinstate them.An opening that seemed impossible even a few weeks ago, so that their dismissal was done with great firmness.

Faced with bronce media in recent days, the director of central intelligence inside Squarcini Bernard, conducted Thursday afternoon, an update stating that "all the comments based on sources close to the matter are completely unfounded" , regretting that "such leaks seriously hinder the progress of the investigation." International letters rogatory launched to uncover potential bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein will not be returned to France before next week. In the meantime, Patrick Pelata has delivered what his aides called a major "operation transparency". A confession truth to defend the honor of his company.

U.S. economist Jeffrey Sachs, special advisor to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and professor at Columbia University, spoke today at the conference "New World, New Capitalism", organized in Paris by the Minister Industry Eric Besson, in the presence of François Fillon and Prime Minister of Greece George Papandreou. Father of the liberal shock therapy in Russia of Yeltsin, Sachs, who has advised many governments, has evolved over the years in cross-interventionist in the fight against poverty.

LE FIGARO. – The European Union will she have to save other Member States this year?

Jeffrey Sachs. – I am more optimistic than most of my fellow economists about Europe. I think the euro will resist and that countries have chosen the difficult path of austerity will hold good.The bailout of Greece and Ireland's long overdue and has been implemented grudgingly, which was expensive in Europe. I agree with these plans, with one caveat: in the case of Ireland, where the weight of private debt is large, the government guarantees to banks have been too generous to me.

The French economic model he was protective against the crisis?

As an American, I am tempted to say, especially to the French right long seduced by liberalism in the U.S.: do not go to the American model! The United States undergoing a structural crisis much deeper than Germany or France. United States, unemployment reached 10%, income inequalities have never been so blatant, and the budget deficit weighs 10% of GDP. The financial system and labor market deregulation are the cause of this crisis.The heart of Europe – except Italy, which has its own political problems – France, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia are much more balanced, more resistant, more competitive in the long run than the States USA.

How the West can they stay competitive?

Global competition is intense. You can increase competitiveness by lowering wages of unskilled workers or, conversely, promote education. The crisis has led to a decline in consumption. Rulers had the choice between stimulating the consumption or boost investment. The second option was the best, not one chosen by the United States, who preferred short-term policies. The recovery requires investment in major infrastructure, the green economy and human capital. Stimulate consumption is a very naive approach.The scrapping, for example, in vogue in many countries, is an easy solution, but absurd.

Are you in favor of reforming the international monetary system?

The dollar has already begun its decline. An international monetary system based on multiple currencies is needed. We must first restore the credibility of the euro. Second difficulty: Asia. The yuan prevail there as the Asian currency or will he monetary cooperation with the Japanese yen and Korean won? The yuan is not even a true international currency, but China probably has a plan to transform the next ten years or even faster.If Europe speaks with one voice (there was dithering in Germany), while Asia also agrees, then the monetary system will be based on three pillars, the euro, Asian currencies and the dollar .

In this context of weak growth and debt in the West, China Will it extend its control over Europe?

No need to be a genius to see that China is trying to recast the global economy. It saves half of its GDP! This accumulation of wealth is spectacular. One part feeds the fastest urbanization in history, which involves the construction of infrastructure, roads, power plants on a scale without precedent. China has also become the largest investor in Africa. She also played an important stabilizing role for the euro. Premier Wen Jiabao said China would continue to purchase debt securities Greek, Portuguese or Spanish.On the other hand, China is the source of rising world prices of energy and power. What she did not properly managed, are its natural resources. She is going through a profound environmental crisis. But this is twenty years I reiterate that China's growth is strong and she changes the world.

Taboo. Over 3.1 million illiterate people in France, 9% of the population having been educated, almost six in ten are employed. Half are over 45 years. Among the unemployed, 15% of people have difficulty reading, writing and arithmetic by the National Agency for fight against illiteracy (ANLCI). "These people are particularly vulnerable in the world of work ', warns in a report released Tuesday, the Policy Board for Employment (COE), a forum between key market players chaired by Marie-Claire Carrère-Gée.

"While the difficulties in reading, writing and arithmetic do not prevent access to employment, continuing this coterie of experts.But the job market becoming increasingly selective and a growing number of people no longer have access to unskilled jobs. "And for good reason: the coordination of work, increased automation and paperless trade are becoming more appeal in writing. "When the company is renewing its technologies, some employees who know by heart their work see their skills are challenged and poor to adapt to new requirements," says the WCC has decided to "pull the bell ' alarm "and makes 25 proposals to overcome this scourge.

First, "make the fight against illiteracy a major national cause." For the board, mastery of basic skills must become "a real right and a reality for all."A steering committee at the national level, with "a dashboard to display the objectives, and monitoring the results" of this policy should be implemented. Of awareness and detection of illiterate persons should be conducted in local communities, schools, social services … The funds for vocational training should be raised and shared direction of illiterate workers.

Evaluation Grid

The WCC suggests "better fight against situations of illiteracy in the run up to employability, including by providing troubled youth identified during the days call for the preparation of Defense guidance and specific training. Ditto for the unemployed.Companies are encouraged to consider including in their annual training plan of actions to fight against illiteracy and to present the results in their social audit. The WCC also recommends to "ensure the quality of courses" taught by entrusting ANLCI the drafting of a rubric and to require all agencies to "publish their results."

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The 787 Dreamliner Boeing collects disappointments. The Boeing could announce seventh delay deliveries of the cargo plane competitor of the Airbus A380.

The boss of the Dreamliner's first customer – with a current order of 74 aircraft – said during an interview with Bloomberg that the failure of the last flight test and suspension tests for is "a major setback for Boeing . The leader considers the effect the fire occurred during a test flight last week will lead to further postponement of the output of the device. Steven Udvar-Hazy said he did not know when the device will be activated.

For its part, Boeing may announce a further delay until the process of investigating the incident on Nov credit reports free. 9 has not been completed.

First deliveries in 2012

An analyst with Morgan Stanley estimates that Boeing should not be able to deliver its first 787 until 2012 because the fire should lead the group to rethink new systems, says the specialist.

Initially, the Boeing 787 was due to enter service in May 2008. With 847 orders, the aircraft with 250 seats is the best selling unit of Boeing.

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