In these times of Himalayan investment needs, to respond to energy, societal, economic and budgetary transitions, the temptation of opinion fueled by political debates remains to seek answers (culprits?) from the so-called “haves” of Society and “big business”. Nothing very new in itself… except the inclusion of Savings in this never-ending quest for new scapegoats. Thus, the age-old debate that divides many economists is once again relevant, on the question of whether Savings (qualified nationally as excessive), but immutable as a great popular value of republican virtue, could become a brake on investment, growth, employment and ultimately on demand itself… Also, this new publication of the REF, based on a plethora of brilliant authors, comes at the right time and in three well-documented chapters, bringing to the reflection factual elements, context and a long-term strategic vision. The first part of the book focuses on providing an overview of the evolution of savings in France compared to Europe, while the second chapter deals with the heterogeneity of saving behavior in several dimensions (in relation to the holding of risky assets, according to household characteristics, life cycle, and the role of certain public policies. Finally, the third part sheds light on the great question of the mobilization of private savings, in the service of the French and European economy. It should be noted that in France, if individuals save a lot (15% on average) and above the main OECD countries, they do so… rather badly… by favoring liquid and less risky assets. The resulting low shareholding and, moreover, the increase in the stock of foreign shares have adverse consequences in terms of sovereignty and competitiveness for our country. The need for a regulation that favors less “safe and liquid” assets is called for by all financial players, insurers, banks and asset managers. The authors argue for an acceleration of the implementation of a true “Union for Savings and Investment”, by identifying four priority areas: redesigning market infrastructures to reduce costs, unifying the supervision of capital markets for better risk sharing, reviving securitization and financing the green transition, and promoting the European venture capital industry to finance innovative companies. As this remarkable publication shows, the new path that seems to be opening up for Savings is covered with beautiful promises… no doubt still accompanied by this popular saying: “He who does not save a penny will never have two.” *DGA at the Banque de France ** Director of European Affairs at the FEI Jean-Louis CHAMBON
François ECALLE, Mécomptes Publics, Eds Odile Jacob, 311 pages.
This book is a journey through the author’s personal history and the public accounts of the French state. First of all, we follow the young centralist as he joins the ENA and discovers, throughout his many training courses, the (dys)functioning, the mysteries, the conflicts of different public services and administrations in the field. Then, through these 32 years spent in the service of the republic, initially, in the forecasting department of the Ministry of Finance, we learn, among other things, how the Ministry of Finance works, how budget forecasts are made, international exchange relations, the lack of cooperation and coordination between the different departments of the ministry. But also, since we have the chance to (re)live the 80s/90s with François Ecalle, we follow him during the liberalization of prices, the preparation of the euro and the European budgetary rules as well as the difficult opening of services to competition. Then, at the Court of Auditors, we control the banking sector and discover, at the Banque de France, an accounting system that is, to say the least, heterogeneous, but also very specific accounts and secret loans from the state, accounting and tax processing of certain equity investments in BNP and Banexi, whose legal exemplarity is not obvious. After the banking sector, the journey continues in the public companies of the world of transport, in agriculture, and we hallucinate with the author in front of the irregularities, the favors obtained, the bad choices, the waste, the absurd reforms, and the calamitous management. Some of the recommendations proposed during the audits have been implemented, but these decisions took a long time to make and were sometimes thwarted or canceled by other reforms. It is striking to note the permanence of fiscal, economic, financial, and political problems and the measures that should be taken to solve them. The observations, the diagnoses made on social VAT, on pensions, on employment policy, on sectoral policies such as industry, housing, agriculture, etc. and the recommendations proposed thirty years ago are still relevant. But all is well, the Court of Auditors continues to publish reports that remain a dead letter, the Treasury management continues to write to its minister that the public deficits recorded in the finance law are unattainable without the adjustment of accounts, the state continues to let its deficit and debt slip away and the French continue to ask the state for everything. Be careful, however, not to lose our sovereignty through the action of certain foreign actors… François Ecalle is Honorary Master Advisor at the Court of Auditors and President of Fipeco, the Public Finance and Economy Association Ph Alezard
DE CREVOISIER Louis, VEILLON Paul-Armand. Repartir du réel, L’OBSERVATOIRE, 205 pages
“Starting from reality”, a certain touch of arrogance in the title as if it was just necessary to start again and listen to what the “France from below” says to put equity and justice in public policies and reforms. The authors report a certain self-criticism of their peers and what they have lacked until today: understanding the experience of workers, far from the metropolises, public transport and the Grandes Écoles. They drew inspiration from their experiences, the cahiers de doléances and the reports of the great national debate established in 2019, a few months after the start of the yellow vests crisis. In December 2024, President Emmanuel Macron called, “to govern”, “from reality and not from fantasies or untruths”. The words are clear, but the middle classes are getting impatient. These middle classes, neither poor nor rich, seek at all costs to have a job that pays, a decent standard of living and hope for their social advancement and that of their children. Starting point of the yellow vests crisis and the mobilizations on the roundabouts. Employees must be able to consider an increase in their wages throughout their career and the social system must be more incentive to work: the gap between inactivity and a job at the minimum wage is considered too small. The authors propose the creation of an “employee dividend” in order to increase the sharing of value. In an indebted France, the financing of the social model remains a stumbling block between politicians and economists. Solutions exist to support the purchasing power of workers but require courage in implementation: lower public spending, increase social contributions and/or working time, or change the way the pension system works. Taxes for whom and for what? The middle classes are not against taxes but want value for their money and are not satisfied with the level of public services. Given this, the authors propose to directly link the Court of Auditors to Parliament in order to have a better assessment of public spending. Regarding taxation, it must be more virtuous in order to reward behaviors that contribute to collective interests. Purchasing power, another theme discussed at length by politicians in search of voters. In a service and deindustrialized France, productivity has been slowing down for several decades and can no longer guarantee dynamic growth. Constrained by their income, the middle classes are eyeing their spending. Among the avenues mentioned for leveraging growth, the authors mention complementary health and highways. Added to this is the ecological crisis and adaptation to the energy transition. Once again, the middle classes find themselves in difficulty to find decent, isolated housing and are often “strangled” by rising energy costs. In the last part, the authors highlight the opportunities for the middle classes. In terms of education, the authors wish to strengthen the level of mathematics and encourage students to move towards scientific fields; without forgetting the revaluation of teachers. At the dawn of future electoral periods and budgeting, the authors thus establish many concrete proposals that must be at the heart of the debates. An educational and enlightening book, a must read. Louis DE CREVOISIER is a senior official, Inspector of Finance. He was previously Deputy Director of the Cabinet of the Minister of Transport. Paul-Armand VEILLON is a senior civil servant, deputy director of the office of the Minister in charge of Public Accounts. Sophie FRIOT
Pierre Dagbo GODE, Le libéralisme économique en Afrique. Quand Friedrich Hayek et Milton friedman sont invités au débat, L’Harmattan, 245 pages.
Pierre Dagbo Godé presents an ambitious program of policy reform for African countries, based on the liberal theories of Friedrich Hayek (Austrian school) and Milton Friedman (Chicago school). He strives to adapt these theories to the structural and cultural peculiarities of African countries. Beyond the principles, he applies to present concrete cases of countries in a situation of success or failure. He notes that most of them had to free themselves after the Second World War, with more or less success, from colonization by European states, which have set up for more than two centuries “rentier economies” based on the exploitation of natural resources, especially for the benefit of local elites. The author advocates applying the principle of “laissez-faire” and limiting the roles of the State, both as “arbiter and strategist”, to the exercise of justice, respect for public safety, and the fight against social inequalities. Institutions must be stable and borders must be sufficiently open to promote trade between Africans and with third countries. Imports should not replace local production and exports should finance infrastructure and assist the most disadvantaged populations. States must also prohibit monopolies and promote competition between local and foreign companies. They must supervise the informal economy without eradicating it because it is the breeding ground for tomorrow’s SMEs/SMIs. They must therefore practice “smart protectionism”. They must avoid any centralization of power, authoritarian planning, excessive bureaucratization, endemic corruption, and arbitrary intervention in the markets. To support economic development, states must guide, in conjunction with foreign universities and NGOs, education and training in the most job-creating professions, such as computer science and artificial intelligence. Pierre Dagbo Godé cites Rwanda, Botswana, Zambia, Kenya, and Uganda as the most committed countries. The author also advocates for pan-African unions, better market integration, and more mobility of workers from one country to another. He analyzes the progress – which he considers still insufficient – of African banking and the Development Assistance Bank (ADB). He compares the actions of the AfCFTA (African Free Trade Area), the ECOWAS (West African Community), the SADC (Southern African Community) and the COMESA (East African Community). These associations have promoted trade by limiting tariff and non-tariff barriers. The book reflects the conviction of its author, according to which Africa, rich in its youth and its natural resources, can find in the principles of economic liberalism the keys to its future. Pierre Dagbo Godé is an Ivorian politician, and the author of several economic and political works. J-J. PLUCHART
The gray areas of financial and extra-financial communication
Part 2: New Approaches The manipulations observed in the social accounts and the sustainability reports of the companies are generally explained by models derived from the “Cressey triangle” or by the psychological biases analyzed by Kahneman and Sversky. But new approaches borrowed from phenomenology and psychoanalysis now allow to explain the development of managerial practices in “gray areas”. Traditional approaches Fraud covers intentional behavior contrary to laws, regulations, and financial, social, and environmental standards. It has been the subject of much research since the founding work of Sutherland, author of the famous “white collar crime” formula. The reference model applied to its various practices is that of the “fraud triangle”, proposed by Cressey (1967), according to which the fraud process develops along three axes: – “The opportunity” to commit an illegal act and/or contrary to the interests of an organization, which is often offered by privileged access to sensitive resources (data, systems, bank accounts …) insufficiently protected. – The “motivation” of the fraudster, which covers different types of psychological bias and psychic affects: the need for money, the quest for recognition, ambition, the taste for risk, mimicry, addiction to fraud. – The “rationalization” of the fraudster’s behavior, which corresponds to the practices of adverse selection intended to mask the fraudulent acts and to thwart the confidence of third parties, in particular by accounting concealments, which reflect the “excuses” that the fraudster gives to himself: “he only borrows the money”; “He falsifies the accounts to save the company”. Cressey’s model has been adapted to new forms of management. Albecht (1982) distinguished three factors favorable to fraud: environmental pressure, opportunism, and the psychological profile of the fraudster. Rezaee (2002) designed the “3C model” (Choice, Conditions and Corporate Framework). Bealey (2000) observed the internal contingencies (the history of the company) and external (its institutional framework) of the fraud process. The Statement of Auditing Standards classified 25 different factors of corporate fraud risk, according to 3 axes: the personalities of the leaders, the economic environment of the company and its organization. The Cressey triangle was reinterpreted by Dominey et al. (2012), who propose a model no longer focusing on the fraudster but on his practices. Called the “fraudulent act triangle model”, it also has three facets: a more or less sophisticated methodology (a misappropriation of assets, a transfer of liabilities…), a concealment of fraud (a false accounting entry, a file destruction…), a conversion of the proceeds of fraud into exploitable assets (money laundering). According to Smith and Lewis (2011), corporate accounting manipulations are generated by managerial drifts based on four types of paradoxes: – organizing paradoxes, which occur when groups of actors oppose methods (accounting-real, fraudulent-non-fraudulent); – belonging paradoxes, which arise when a goal can be achieved by different means (accounting-real), or when there are conflicting goals (short or long term); – performing paradoxes, which arise from more or less conflicting interests between stakeholders; – learning paradoxes between tradition and innovation, which result in a “phygital” treatment (combining experience and algorithms) of accounting manipulations. According to Boudon (1990), fraud or manipulation has become a social phenomenon marked by “mimicry effects” and “composition effects”, by which interactions between the types of actors (intentional and unintentional manipulators, fraudsters and non-fraudsters) lead to perverse effects contrary to the intentions of each. According to Tversky and Kahneman (1974), the behaviors of corporate actors are subject to four classes of bias that have been reinforced by the development of Artificial Intelligence and that particularly affect communication to meet ESG principles. The first class covers cognitive biases that distort the processed data, their processing models, and the interpretation of the results, including familiarity and confirmation biases. Faced with an urgent decision or a complex problem, managers choose the option they think they can best control or the solution that mobilizes immediately available resources and/or involves easily controllable issues. They are also subject to biases of “conservatism” which reflect the tendency to overestimate information in line with their convictions (Festinger, 1957), or anchoring biases, which consist in discarding discordant or confusing information and to seek only those confirming their own choices (Goetzman and Pelès, 1997). The second class of heuristics transposable to AI deals with excesses of optimism and confidence. Managers tend to interpret the “solutions” provided by the applications as “self-fulfilling discourses” or “performative presentations”, which give them the illusion of controlling the situation. They are victims of overconfidence, usually accompanied by self-justification in the event of a bad decision. The decision-maker has the illusion that they “manage in compliance”, that they “master the ESG criteria”, that they “inspire the confidence of their stakeholders” … They believe they do not need advice; they rationalize past events a posteriori (retrospective bias); they attribute all the merits of a success (self-attribution bias), according to Roll (1986) … The third form of bias relates to the effects of imitation or conformity, which affect, according to Hong, Kubik and Stein (1994), designers influenced by socio-professional norms, or by the follow-up of pioneers, charismatic leaders or events. The fourth form of drift caused by generative AI covers perceptual and/or emotional biases, which can blur the mental representation of a phenomenon (Higgs, Dulewicz, 2002). Certain ambiguous or counter-intuitive solutions revealed by AI can induce different behaviors from one actor to another in the face of identical situations. These biases can distort individual decisions in business. Loewenstein et al. (2001) have shown that the fear of an uncertain event is often motivated by the possibility – and not the probability – of its negative consequences; because the more “the latter are perceived as important, the more the affective prevails over the cognitive”. The respondents’ answers (presented in the section make it possible to distinguish three new approaches to gray areas within organizations, which have not yet been proposed – or which have only been mentioned – by researchers and experts on the issue of gray areas in management. This exploratory survey makes it possible to go beyond the traditional approaches, according to which (non-fraudulent) manipulations in
Olivier BABEAU, L’ère de la flemme, Editions Buchet-Chastel, 288 pages, février 2025.
The author – PRIX TURGOT 2020 – in his latest work transports us to a new dimension by explaining the paradigm shift that is the loss of the sense of effort. A civilizational rupture is taking place. The effort that was exalted – and which is at the heart of any successful life – is no longer of interest, it is no longer given as an example, and we prefer the egalitarian virtues of humility and passivity. We no longer salute the hero, but the victim. Elitism was a laudatory qualification, we are wary of excellence, the mediocre reassures, we have entered the lazy thirties which will logically lead to a form of economic and political bankruptcy and to a cultural, economic colonization and also to the end of our political model based on democracy because the era of laziness mainly concerns the old countries of the West. Artificial intelligence does not make effort useless, but it changes what is essential to live happily. We cannot rule out the possibility that work will disappear and if the civilization of idleness is confused with that of laziness – which has significant consequences on our material lives – it will lead to the disappearance of the individual. Effort also dies from the profound transformation of our relationship with society because it is no longer necessary to obtain most of the things that yesterday cost so much to acquire. One sometimes has the impression that the essential goal of every citizen is to succeed in capturing the perks of redistribution during working life and retirement. The preference for laziness has spread to all dimensions of society. The extraordinary latitude of choice conferred by prosperity ends up being tiresome, because freed from the burden of hunger, we are less able to bear the other rules that constrain us. The development of modern civilization has changed the rites of integration and the rules of the social game. For millennia, belonging to a group meant conforming, otherwise one was not recognized as a member. We do not negotiate with the rigor of social prescriptions, because existence was precarious and relatively short, suffering and death being omnipresent. One could not be idle; the idleness of the Greek citizen is not considered laziness because it allows a work on oneself beneficial for the community. One did not choose one’s spouse or religion. Degradation is no less formidable than death, since an existence rejected by the group is not really an existence. We must make an essential difference between pre-industrial society and ours. Today, the range of choices to be made in our lives is almost infinite. Effort is no longer the prerequisite for survival. Everyone enjoys a piece of the collective prosperity without having to participate. This opens up a new possibility: doing nothing. And it all starts at school, for the success rates of the patent are boosted by 3 to 6 points according to the academies. The progression of the number of baccalaureate recipients is a sign of its change of function. It has become a ritual of social aggregation. It is up to the institution to adapt rather than to ask students to make an effort. Now, we no longer read because the effort required is too great, we learn by entertaining ourselves via digital means. The effort would not have disappeared if it had not been discriminated against. At the beginning of the 21st century, all the conditions are met for the death knell of the effort, which is no longer the rule but the exception, or rather that it is replaced by the trumpets of laziness, because the progress of industrial and agricultural civilization has been immense. We have access to a standard of living prodigiously superior to that of our ancestors at the cost of a considerably lower effort. We want to consume, but less and less to produce. It is no longer a question of achieving the best possible performance, but of doing what is enough to earn a salary. Laziness is no longer a flaw but an asset to be managed, the most spectacular sign – sedentary lifestyle – of triumphant laziness is the decline of our physical abilities. Today’s teenagers have lost a quarter of their lung capacity compared to those of 1990. In September 2022, Santé Publique France launched an advertising campaign “getting teenagers to move is not easy, but encouraging them is important” compare to another advertising campaign “install WhatsApp effortlessly on your tablet”. In December 2023, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the 35-hour work week, which caused us to lose one of our two competitive advantages vis-à-vis Germany, and the 42nd anniversary of retirement at 60 years of age by distribution. The problem with political decisions is that they take a very long time to prove their merits or their shortcomings. In this case, these decisions turn out to be absolute disasters. The 35-hour week was the illusion of free money before the letter (it should be noted that we were not copied on this subject). France works too little. In 1980, we were the 13th country in terms of GDP per capita, and we are 25th in 2023. France has been living beyond its means for several decades. We buy the work we don’t want to do abroad by paying either with assets or with a drawing right on our future taxes. Yesterday, we only existed through the group, now everything happens as if the group only existed for us. This is the second pillar of the effort that collapses, we no longer exist for others but to have fun. Avoiding effort decreases the quantity produced but also our tolerance to effort. This also affects China, where revolt is not possible and young people protest by staying in bed. The end of the effort disarms the mind by weakening reason in favor of emotion, it makes the bed of the serious social crisis that we are going through. The world of emotion claims
Vladimir Atlani-VictorSTORCHAN , Anti-manuel d’intelligence artificielle, Eyrolles, 192 pages.
This is a title that intrigues, at first glance, and which reflects the general tone of this work which seeks to demolish the ideas received on AI and to stimulate our intellect to take advantage of it in a reasoned and reasonable use, bringing great progress in all areas of social life, scientific life and business life. The title “anti-manual” means that there is not one AI but AI with different expectations and models for each of them. There is, therefore, no perfect user manual, but a progressive learning, both empirical and scientific, of the immense, even unlimited possibilities offered by these technologies. In the broadest sense, AI encompasses all the techniques that can replicate the cognitive behavior of the human brain on machines. Beyond a simple replication, the explosion of absorption capacities, by machines of increasingly large volumes of data, has made it possible to develop uses of these increasingly promising technologies. This is the case of “machine learning” which, in a very simplistic way, beyond the automation of existing processes, will strive to optimize the use of computers based on real examples that will make it adapt new ways of working, for example, in the medical, legal, anti-fraud fields… Beyond the restructuring of complex processes, the potential of AI extends to the powerful creation of new organizational models in all areas of society, “deep learning”, consuming exponentially growing volumes of data. If the potential for progress is considerable, the ethical and geopolitical risks are immense and can threaten individual freedom. In short, there is a risk for our democracies. One requirement is the implementation of very strict governance rules at both the national and global levels. One of the strengths of the book is its clarity and the many examples and anecdotes that illustrate the point and fortunately complement a very broad, very rich and sometimes difficult subject. This enlightening book deserves a prize. Denis Molho
The gray areas of financial and extra-financial communication (1)
Jean-Jacques Pluchart The research workshop organized on June 27, 2025 by the Institute of Psychoanalysis and Management (IPM), an academic association member of the FNEGE, gave rise to several communications on the theme of “gray areas of the management of organizations”. Professor J-J. Pluchart (Scientific Director of the IPM) presented research on the gray areas of financial and extra-financial communication, the results of which are likely to interest the readers of clubturgot.com. Since its inception, financial accounting has given rise to various frauds contrary to the regulations and standards in force, to which have recently been added so-called “creative” practices apparently aligned with an accounting framework, but in fact not in accordance with the ethics of the company. These behaviors are part of the “gray areas” of management, located on the border between the regulatory and non-regulatory domains. These practices have diversified with the obligation to publish sustainability reports, which requires the reporting of several hundred extra-financial indicators, both accounting and statistical, as part of ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) reporting. The accounting gray area has thus extended to practices relating to green and social washing, nudging, faking, etc. These deviations have been facilitated by certain applications – so-called projective – of Artificial Intelligence. The research, based on a questionnaire survey of a population of statutory auditors and trusted third parties, identified common practices observed in the grey areas covering accounting and sustainability reporting, as well as analyzing the motivations of their authors. The panel surveyed distinguishes between fraudulent manipulations contrary to regulations, which are a priori in “black areas”, and non-fraudulent manipulations contrary to professional ethics or company ethics, which constitute “gray areas”. The discriminating criterion that dominates the auditors’ responses is compliance or non-compliance with laws, regulations, and professional standards. Accounting and Extra-Accounting Practices The respondents distinguish: – Accounting fraud (“black areas”), such as the recording of fictitious transactions (sales, purchases, movements of stocks, receipts or disbursements…) and the issuance of false invoices; the non-recognition or recording of actual transactions that do not comply with IFRS standards (such as the activation of advertising or training costs); the falsification of accounting documents (invoices, contracts, certificates, labels…), the deconsolidation of subsidiaries in debt and/or in deficit; the failure to publish the company’s accounts or the publication of only pro-forma accounts; the early recording of income or delayed expenses from one year to the next… – Non-fraudulent accounting manipulations, such as the adjustment of discretionary accruals (optional allocations or reinstatements of depreciation and provisions) and/or the need for working capital; the application of the big bath technique during a change of management, by exceptional allocations of provisions that can be reinstated in the following years; the smoothing of results over several years in order to maintain a regular distribution of dividends, and/or to display results in line with forecasts; the change in the inventory valuation method in order to generate capital gains or losses; the activation of certain expenses (R & D, interest …) and their amortization over several years; the revaluation of certain assets (real estate, goodwill …) using models generating capital gains or losses (also cited by Chiapello, 2005); the unusual use of factoring or discounting to improve cash flow; the non-publication or partial publication of accounting results despite the risk of legal proceedings; the publication of “oriented” pro-forma results, in order to influence the course of the action; the manipulation of segmented information to guide comparisons between competitors in the same industry … – “Real accounting manipulations” (creative accounting), such as the artificial increase in sales through excessive year-end discounts and/or exceptionally favorable invoice payment terms; the deferral of expenses from one year to the next (including research and development and/or training expenses); the realization of lease back operations of various assets (headquarters, stores, warehouses, factories, equipment, etc.); the abnormal disposal of non-operating and/or investment assets… – Extra-financial manipulations, such as in black areas, non-compliant practices of disinformation, qualified as environmental (green washing) and social or societal (social washing) laundering, covering erroneous, imprecise or truncated data; in gray areas, non-information (some key data are omitted) or non-monitored information (companies display objectives but not results), and the biased framing of the company’s projects or operations: – over time, with simulations and projections (facilitated by AI) to present the most favorable or most credible data (such as net-zero or very long-term gender parity objectives without regular monitoring of achievements); – in space, with data (also processed using AI) not representative of a field, due to intentional targeting errors and/or biased parameters, ambiguities or textual inconsistencies, which lead to errors in data interpretation. Factors favorable to gray areas Overall, the auditors interviewed believe that it is increasingly difficult to isolate the types of more or less fraudulent manipulations, insofar as a growing number of them (misappropriation of assets, fraud in purchases or overheads, etc.) are internal or external while benefiting from internal complicity, and are the subject of increasingly difficult to detect hedging manipulations. Manipulations that are deemed to be in gray areas by auditors and ICOs (Informative Commissionner Officers), are generally observed when: – the company is over-indebted, its results are declining, its stock price is volatile and/or the continuity of its operations is threatened; – conflicts of interest between the company’s stakeholders (in particular between investors, partners, staff, the State, etc.); – the company’s shareholding is open and fragmented; the smoothing of the company’s results reassures its stakeholders about the company’s resilience; – the company’s image is less likely to be degraded if it complies with accounting rules but not or little with ESG standards, which are more recent and uncertain. According to the respondents, some managers therefore justify their intentions and behaviors by: – “good reasons”: the difficult or particular situation of the company justifies a “certain interpretation” of the rules and standards; – “professional routines”: “accountants have always practiced accounting and tax optimization, the new standard is inapplicable…” – “beliefs”: “non-information makes it possible to avoid green or social bashings; the superiority of the shareholder model, innovation
Comment la technologie peut sauver la planète – Sortir de la paralysie de la peur ,Philippe RODRIGUEZ et François de RUGY,Dunod, février 2025, 180 pages.
“Neither a fantasized return, nor a decline; This struggle is a matter of life and death” We live in a time that forces us into bitter economic rivalries against the backdrop of energy transition. We must move forward without fear or complaint and stick to our agenda. This book by Philippe Rodriguez and François de Rugy, divided into five parts, bears witness to the obstacles to be overcome, the challenges to be met, the initiatives to be undertaken, and the means to be devoted to this national priority, which must give a central place to the deployment of innovations of all kinds to preserve France’s technological sovereignty. In the first three chapters, the authors highlight the narrow path to be traced between a technophile Prometheism and ecological sobriety. The abundant catalog of leads and the enumeration of pillars, energy sources, actions to be taken, and their expected returns are reviewed to achieve energy efficiency. Storage appears to be a crucial element in managing this transition. While France is lagging behind in “cleantech”, disruptive innovations such as SMRs provide it with undeniable advantages. This transition and its complexity are at the heart of diplomatic and geopolitical influences in view of the concentration of energy resources in their distribution in certain parts of the world. In this regard, rare earths, placed at the heart of green technologies, pose a serious dilemma related to the requirement of the highly polluting refining of this resource. The last two chapters highlight the pressing time in this period of budgetary scarcity and the importance of the efforts to be made. The Draghi report of September 2024, with the doubling of the budget to 200 billion euros of Europe’s program for research and innovation, must be reflected in national strategies. The authors call for an administrative revolution as a cardinal condition of success. The opus closes optimistically with eight avenues and a long list of recommendations to think outside the box and boost the energy transition. But it is indeed a paradigm shift that is at stake, with a certain apostolic effect. The uniqueness of this enlightened book can be summed up in a few words: we must act quickly! But the exercise is not simple and seems to have to articulate short-term actions in a long-term approach. Philippe RODRIGUEZ, director of Avolta, and of several companies for thirty years. His experience as a multi-entrepreneur and his various activities allow him to be a particularly wise observer of current themes. François de RUGY, was Minister of the Ecological and Solidarity Transition (20189-2019) and played a key role in the adoption of laws related to ecological issues. As a Senior Advisor at Avolta and an independent consultant, he helps companies and investors develop new ecological models. Reading notes by Freddi Godet des Marais –
Javier BLAS et Jack FARCHY, Un monde à vendre : la saga des traders de matières premières, Edition Novice ( traduction), juin 2025, 405 pages
This book traces the history of commodity trading houses over the last sixty years, from their births to their hands placed on the world trade of oil, cereals and metals in the most remote areas of the planet, where power and money mix. The first part of this book explains how the pioneers of oil trading (Philipp Brothers, then Marc Rich & Co, and finally Glencore) supplanted the 7 major oil companies (including Exxon, BP, Shell, etc.) in terms of trading black gold, by putting oil in the wheels in countries like Russia and others. And the second part of the book, to understand the interactions between countries in Africa and South America, to help support global economic development. A modern world, where the market is king and where multinationals seem to be able to free themselves from any attempt at regulation. Clearly, the author explains that commodity traders, with their actions, have transformed the world economic order, participating in the disintegration of the oligopolies that previously controlled many markets. While the trading houses based in Switzerland (canton of Zug) were able to develop in the greatest discretion, acting in relation with heads of state producing energy and mineral wealth, the latter were caught up by American institutions to stop practices that are often unspeakable. Moreover, while China, since its entry into the WTO, has been the main catalyst for the demand for raw materials on the planet, the trading house landscape has begun to change since its economic slowdown. The latter must address the following three constraints: the United States/China trade war (2018), climate change (electricity), the arrival of Chinese competition developing its own trading structures; without forgetting transparency, a key element of the 21st century. In the end, an interesting book to read for anyone working in the commodity trade or being an analyst in the finance sector. Because without commodity trading, there is no economic development or monetary stability. Javier Blas is a columnist at Bloomberg Opinion covering energy and commodity issues from London. Jack Farchy is a senior reporter specializing in natural resources at Bloomberg News. Reading notes by Claude Georgelet