The Cercle des Economistes signs its latest work under a title borrowed from the populist press, its attempts to answer the main economic and social questions that the French are asking to each other’s in these troubled times. The book brings together the best specialists in the fields covered: the fragmentation of the world economy; the questions of debt and the French employment rate; labor immigration; public money financing culture. In each chapter, the authors emphasize the importance of the questions asked, analyze – or rather criticize – the answers generally given to these questions by political circles and the media, and then, drawing on the best sources, engage in useful “reasoned returns to facts” and “deconstructions of myths”, to finally formulate concrete proposals to revamp the fundamentals of the country. The reader of the book will note that in economic and social matters, elected officials and the media too often engage in abusive simplifications, the propagation of counter-truths and clever simulations, in order to defend ideologies and justify programs with improbable effects. The reader will find that the unemployment rates of “the young and the old” are abnormally higher than those of other Western countries, and that more than 600,000 French seniors are virtually without resources. The reader will also learn that the actual working hours of French workers of working age is close to the European average, that the expulsion of “working immigrants” would ruin the construction, catering, and domestic services sectors. They will be surprised to learn that the responsibility for France’s public over-indebtedness is more attributable to right-wing policies (favorable to tax cuts) than to the left (oriented towards corporate taxation). They will learn that economic growth can be combined with a search for happiness without indulging in laziness, and that the promotion of culture involves both public and private fundings. After reading the book, the reader will remain skeptical about the chances of sorting out the country’s fundamentals in the short or medium terms. The 16 authors are teacher-researchers and leaders of institutions, members of the Cercle des Economistes.J-J. Pluchart

What if power no longer belonged to the great nations? Nicolas Tenzer is certain: the days of the traditional great powers are numbered. Trump’s United States has broken the Atlantic Alliance; China, which remains a predatory power, is bogged down in its internal contradictions; Russia is facing a “no future” scenario. There is now a persistent belief in many diplomatic circles that international politics is essentially determined by the major powers and their games. Other countries are certainly not unimportant in this conventional view, and their policies may sometimes be disruptive, but they never have the final say! However, the return to “American greatness,” which must be based on a rapprochement with China, heralds America’s decline. The major countries that are members of the Security Council have cherished the idea of a closed club of five all the more because it projected an image as flattering as precarious makeup! However, playing on permanent ambiguity gives the illusion of power in the absence of confidence, but hides a lack of will. At the same time, some describe Russia as a paper tiger, and it is not clear that the prediction of China becoming the world’s leading economic, technological, and military power by 2049 will come true! The possible or even emerging multipolarity of the world would lead to the emergence of revisionist states. The radical fragmentation of the poles could also bring about freedom. More agile players ARE likely to reinvent the rules of the international game: Estonia, a pioneer in warning about Europe’s security, Turkey if it manages to choose sides, Syria freed from its criminal occupations, but also the medium-sized powers of Central and Eastern Asia. Together, the democracies of the North, South, and East will join forces against the revisionist powers. Together, they will be able to stand up to the pseudo-empires. France and the United Kingdom will have to play a leading role in this realignment. As for Ukraine, its heroic resistance demonstrates the ability of medium-sized states to stand up to the old powers. Through an analysis of the new balance of power, Nicolas Tenzer reveals how these “intermediate” states are redrawing the map of the world: they are creating unprecedented alliances, developing original strategies of influence, and proving that it is possible to exert greater influence on the international stage without being a superpower. Tomorrow, world security and the freedom of peoples will depend on the determination of small and medium-sized nations. The Trump episode may have been the moment when this realization dawned. The author reviews the power limitations of post-colonial states, China, the United States, India, African disorganization, and the lack of strategy in Middle Eastern countries. At the same time, resistance among peoples is emerging, along with a so-called “Ukrainian” model for the nation of the future. So: G-Zero or G-Infinity? How can stability be built? The signal sent by a Ukrainian victory will undoubtedly be decisive, both symbolically and in practice, and could inspire others to follow suit. This victory is therefore existential for Europe and other medium-sized powers! The strength of an armed people is underestimated until its next victories. While in the old world it was customary to consider that the great powers formed an axis of security, “tomorrow’s security and freedom will come through small and medium-sized states.” The book is supported by highly relevant observations thanks to the author’s geopolitical erudition. Like any projection, the book’s conclusions will not necessarily prove true, but they may. This book is necessary to help us escape the media chaos and take a step back. Readers will gain information and reasoning that will allow them to refine their own views. Whether you agree with the thesis or not, it must be known. In the dark environment of a world at war, this book is a tunnel at the end of which there is a legitimate element of optimism. Dominique CHESNEAU

Crypto Assets and Non-Crypto Currencies. From the outset, the two authors, experts on the technical, economic, and geopolitical aspects of payment methods, warn us against fundamental errors in the assessment of so-called “crypto currencies”, such as the bitcoin. They do not fulfill the attributes of a currency, which are to be a unit of account, a means of intermediation of exchanges, and finally a reserve of value; the authors prefer to speak of crypto-assets which, in the absence of effective regulatory bodies, present considerable risks, essentially linked to an uncontrolled volatility without concrete counterparts and do not constitute, in any way, a reserve of value. A large part of the book is devoted to the risks generated by the uncontrolled expansion of crypto assets. For example, the anonymity of asset ownership and the impossibility of tracing the underlying transactions, the extreme volatility of the prices of these assets, the meteoric expansion of illicit transactions related to money laundering or arms trafficking on the dark web. Overall, in the absence of a framework by central banks, the flow of crypto-assets poses a threat to the monetary and financial order. The book then develops the opportunities offered by the underlying technologies around the blockchain. This technology, properly used, that is to say, exploited in an appropriate regulatory framework, can serve as a platform for the decentralization of part of the financial activities, for example for certain specialized and duly regulated credits and secured payment operations. The major issue is the sovereignty of Central Banks, which may be dispossessed of their role in regulating official currencies. In this respect, the book is a driving force for a controlled use of crypto assets which must not, under any circumstances, become an official currency. Denis Molho

The author offers his vision on the genesis, influence, and evolution of this current of thought in the political and economic sphere of a part of the world, in particular Europe. If environmental awareness has always been correlated to mankind in various forms, it experienced a boom with the beginning of industrialization and the emergence of the first theses on the need to regulate the world population. The Environment becomes, over the course of events, the matrix of more identity-based and more radical currents. This is how, at the end of the 19th century, the word “ecology” was born, to designate the “scientific discipline which studies the natural environments as well as the relations and interactions between the living beings and these environments”. Very quickly, “ecology” deviates from this definition and their representatives, ecologists, to become a messianic movement based on a quasi-religious rhetoric. The new “ecology” is based on the concept of “imminent global systemic crisis”, fueling its rationality and justification on materials provided by the news: acid rain, nuclear risks, overpopulation, the ozone layer, greenhouse gas emissions related to human activities, energy transition… Each theme is the subject of active advertising via broadcasting and popularization relays: NGOs, Conferences/Debates, ad-hoc Commissions, media, experts of all kinds, reports/theses. Funding is legion through international organizations, governments, contributions, bequests/donations… It is worth noting the remarkable plasticity of the approach: Each new theme drives out the previous one, as was the case with acid rain, overpopulation, the ozone layer, nuclear power… Global warming is the new battlefield for environmentalists, fueled by a number of reports, including those of the IPCC. The European Union is among the good students on its territory but is less concerned about the possible environmental damage of its international suppliers, the global impact study being mainly reserved for its own nationals. This virtuous approach of the European Union is not, for the moment, imitated by its direct competitors (United States, China, India, Brazil…) less hampered by the norms and beneficiaries of our environmental challenges which translates, for the European Union, into an impoverishment, a “soft” decline, a deindustrialization, a loss of sovereignty, and an over-indebtedness for some. Can this asymmetric competitiveness gap, to some extent, explain the decline of Europe and its erasure in this new world? The author’s final optimism is based on an awareness of the European Union’s economic, social, and political issues, but also on the gradual disappearance of ecology as a dominant thought by its inability to anticipate and solve problems. Bertrand ALLIOT, actor of the environmental movement. Former ecologist and columnist. Published “Une histoire naturelle de l’homme” (A Natural History of Man). Ed. de l’Artilleur in 2020. Hubert Alcaraz

A big hat tip to the author of this book, which addresses the theme of the impact of digital transformation from a very global perspective, combining technology (including artificial intelligence), social networks, sociology, psychology, and philosophy. The book, very powerful in terms of brain stimulation, requires a consequent effort to measure all the richness and to provide the reader with keys to master a relationship with “reality”. In fact, new technologies largely exploit the human brain’s propensity to cling to preconceived ideas. They strive to fulfill ever-increasing desires fueled by virtual messages carried by multiple digital niches. The damage caused by poorly or insufficiently regulated tools is considerable, with the risk of losing critical thinking, whether in the business world or in personal life. The providers of “cyber information” – for example, AI – know very well how to exploit the mechanisms of information absorption by individuals. These mechanisms include a large part of positive or negative emotions, such as fears. Very often, consumers of biased and targeted information to generate, for example, buying behaviors, lose their ability to discern. A very significant risk is linked to the rigidification of thought polluted by fake news of all kinds, which shuts down certain parts of the brain and can lead to inappropriate decisions. Advertising and Artificial Intelligence make extensive use of the psychological levers mentioned above. The author underlines the absolute urgency of strengthening global governance in the face of the risks of “cyber capitalist” societies. This is a very powerful book that warns of considerable economic, societal, and human risks. Denis Molho

The Grand Livre des taux d’intérêt (The Great Book of Interest Rates) is an encyclopedia of finance that not only covers rates – the “most important figures in the modern world” – but also all instruments, institutions, procedures, events… of modern finance. The book includes both alphabetical entries by concepts and acronyms, as well as focus sections (especially historical) and quotes from famous financiers, references to the sources consulted, and references to related concepts. It is solidly structured and is written in a clear and precise style. It demonstrates that the traditional book format, when well constructed, is more didactic and practical than online consultation of a search engine, even one enriched by AI. It is also an opportunity to organize useful financial literacy quizzes. Gérard Blandin’s book summarizes in only 328 pages the sum of knowledge that all practitioners, teachers, and students in finance must fully master, and that savers and financial investors must at least partially know. The reader of the Grand Livre will discover several hundred abbreviations and acronyms, regulatory texts, and names of famous financiers and politicians, who are or have been essential in the functioning of monetary, financial, and accounting systems. The Grand Livre is not only practical; it attests to the complexity of contemporary finance and delivers a subliminal message about the unparalleled creativity of financiers, the speed of change in finance, and the importance of its economic and social utility.A graduate of Sciences Po Paris, Gérard Blandin has over thirty years of experience in the field of investments. He has led the editorial teams of several financial weekly publications and is the author of about fifteen works on the stock market, real estate, collective management, and market finance. Jean-Jacques Pluchart

The authors respond to the main questions raised for more than ten years by the impacts of global warming and by energy and ecological transitions. They recall the alarms launched since 1990 by the IPCC and other official bodies, as well as the ambitions (often disappointed) displayed in the 29 Conferences of the Parties (COP) organized since 1995. They stress the importance of the COP 21 held in Paris in 2015, which set the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The authors reveal that the IPCC reports have been the target of a real climategate, orchestrated by the energy companies, which have tried to discredit the IPCC’s data, processing, and conclusions through complacent studies. They also denounce the banks that continue to finance projects that harm the environment. They point out that the multiple consequences (especially on human health) of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are better documented and that a warming of 3°C, or even 4°C, would be catastrophic for the planet and humanity. They warn of the severity and simultaneity of the latest natural disasters (drought, floods, etc.). The authors are optimistic, however: they identify the devices to be implemented in order to achieve the objectives set by the COP: new instruments of “green finance”, alternative systems of heating, transportation and production, ecological materials… They show the progress of agroecology to preserve the soil and absorb GHGs, as well as the emergence of geoengineering that extracts carbon monoxide from the atmosphere. They hold up European countries as examples for the least energy-efficient nation-states, such as China and the United States. Alain GRANDJEAN is the co-founder of the firm Carbon 4. Claude HENRY is an honorary professor at the Ecole Polytechnique and the University of Colombia. Jean JOUZEL was a member of the IPCC. Jean-Jacques Pluchart

The book is interesting in more ways than one: educational, practical, inspiring. You can’t do sustainable finance without doing finance first! This book introduces the main concepts of corporate and market finance, then explains how these concepts are relevant to sustainable finance. Each chapter focuses on a financial concept: wealth, interest rates, returns, balance sheets, asset portfolios, arbitrage, derivatives, and even crypto-assets! This book thus provides a bridge between “traditional” finance and sustainable finance. That covers the educational aspect. It is practical thanks to its original format. In each chapter, the concepts are explained by teachers and practitioners: CFOs, central bankers, commercial bankers, investment bankers, managers, trading room managers, appraisers, accountants, auditors, business leaders, and more. We learn that concepts such as IRR, required rate of return, risk-free rate, company buyouts, arbitrage, CAPM, options and derivatives, and extra-financial valuation are applicable to the models and functioning of sustainable finance. The book is inspiring because it is not a pro domo plea for sustainable finance. On the contrary, the choice of interviewees leads us to question the current systemic limitations: difficulties in determining the rate of return on an ESG project and calculating environmental value, the intrinsic value of carbon, questions about regulations and SRI evaluators, etc. Each chapter includes a conclusion in a few points that summarizes the previous discussion and raises questions, an inspiring format! Natural and social capital cannot be reduced to numbers, but numbers are essential and it is crucial to collect reliable data. And “classic” financial concepts provide a solid foundation that can be adapted to the analysis of broader issues, particularly sustainability. The author rightly asserts that the green and sustainable transition will require a return of trust, governance, and value, and the current difficulties are not overlooked. Regarding trust, E. DOLLEY affirms the need to develop blockchains. Given their energy consumption, this point seems counterintuitive, but the arguments put forward are strong. The traceability of funds invested in projects, the reliability of upstream data that is so difficult to obtain that the OMNIBUS Directive has limited the obligations to obtain it, and “certified” renewable energy sources would justify and satisfy the information needs of economic agents. This book does not develop ready-made solutions, but it provides a kind of serious and accessible compendium. Thus, the transition would be driven by a “bottom-up” approach, as the top-down approach has, according to the author, reached its well-defined limits. Dominique Chesneau

The French planning of the Glorious Thirty, initiated by Jean Monnet, has given way to a new form of more global and sustainable planning: “ecological planning”, which focuses on the objectives to be achieved and the resources to be implemented in order to ensure energy, ecological, economic and social transitions, by 2030 and 2050. The author shows the diversity of devices to be mobilized, conventions, laws, decrees and standards to be defined in order to establish a “frugal, carbon-free, circular and sustainable economy”. The ecological, economic, and social issues are intertwined and most of the constraints – especially sectoral and territorial – often provoke contradictory reactions from the many social actors involved. This is why the author believes that the transition involves a “democratic renewal”, especially in France. Mathilde Viennot compares the different modes of planning throughout history: Soviet-style authoritarian, French-style indicative, incentive-based in the context of the New Deal, etc. She analyzes the scope and especially the limits of the conventional parameters that underlie economic projections (discount rate, GDP, debt, etc.). She highlights the difficulty of arbitrating between market regulation and the regulation of production and consumption. She believes that ecological planning is based primarily on more sobriety in the ways of housing, moving, and feeding. She compares the different estimates of the necessary over-investments (in 360 and 416 billion euros per year in Europe by 2030) and analyzes the necessary financial arrangements, then deduces that the Union and the European States will have to be at the same time “treasurers, compensators, architects, co-investors, and collectors”.The author demonstrates an exceptional sense of analysis and synthesis on one of the most complex and essential contemporary issues. Mathilde Viennot (ENS, PhD in Economics from EHESS) is a member of France Stratégie. Jean-Jacques Pluchart