State

"In his letter to Fabius, Bernard Arnault commits to respecting the plan he presented to the government, which promises in particular the "perpetuity" of the Boussac group and makes firm commitments on employment. In return, he presents the bill to the State: 940 million, partly (380 million) in the form of debt write-offs, the rest (560 million) in the form of new aid6. The money will be paid, but the promises will not be kept: Bernard Arnault can congratulate himself on returning to France six months earlier. The socialists, those scarecrows, have just given him the best Christmas of his life."

"The market is an organizational instrument. It allows coordination without the need for a leader. That is why it is much more effective than socialist centralization. Of course, a market does not function on its own. Arbitration mechanisms are necessary to prevent the strongest from corrupting the system. But once the rules of the game are established and stable, players can be freed. In pursuit of their interests, they will achieve what no organization can and enable the accumulation of wealth that drives development. This accumulation of wealth can generate tensions, especially in new countries, but the State remains the master of the game and, through taxation and laws, sometimes through direct allocation of resources, it can therefore reduce negative effects and achieve a redistribution that maintains the balance of society."