"The most important fact about this crisis is that the state is back." So
said Nicolas Sarkozy at the
sommet de secours that began in Paris today.
What a long way we have come from the early days of the Sarkozy regime. Then the watchword was "France is back!" Meaning that Sarkozy's realignment of French foreign policy and reconciliation with the United States had lifted
la grande nation out of the pariah status to which it had been consigned by a hegemonic America piqued by French opposition to its supreme status in the world. And of course one basis of that reconciliation was Sarkozy's supposed acceptance--nay, enthusiastic embrace--of "Anglo-American neo-liberalism."
And now, with the mere substitution of "l'État" for "France"--"
l'État est de retour"--we leap from Sarkozysme I to Sarkozysme II. Of course both constructs are rather mythical. Sarko I was hardly the neo-liberal he sometimes pretended to be; state capitalism was never far from his heart. And Sarko II is hardly the
commissaire au Plan that his rhetorical formula might suggest. He hasn't the means, for one thing, and there is no Plan,* for another--and there's no plan, either. For all this talk of state intervention, there's been precious little action and even less in the way of a comprehensive blueprint.
But Sarko is the consummate surfer. He likes to hang ten on the edge of his board and let the wave of the Zeitgeist carry him triumphantly to shore, while he cuts an impressive figure against the azure of sky and surf. Let's see how confident he looks another six months into the Great Depression of the 21st century. But by then, of course, he'll be riding another wave: Obama spoke yesterday of the need to take a fresh look at entitlement programs. How long before Sarko follows suit and launches an attack on
les conservatismes that stand in the way of necessary reform of
la sécu?
* i.e., The Commissariat général du Plan no longer exists.
ADDENDUM: Maybe Sarko would like to compare his glittering generality--"entrepreneurial state"--with
Obama's list of specific state-financed entrepreneurial ventures: alternative energy, building renovation, computerization of medical records, equipment of schools and libraries, teacher training, etc.