François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy will face off in a May 6 runoff election after the Socialist challenger won 28.6 percent of the vote in the first round of the French presidential elections yesterday. Sarkozy, who won 27.1 percent of the vote, was hoping a victory would give his campaign momentum, but being tied to the policies of the euro crisis will not help him-especially since Hollande is framing his challenge as a "reaction against austerity." Sarkozy is suffering presidential ratings lower than any seen since the 1950s. If Hollande wins, he would attempt to chart French economic policy away from the austere status quo set by European Union leaders, and Paul Krugman thinks a change of thinking might be just the risky prescription the still wavering European economy needs: "An Hollande victory would shake things up, and offer at least the possibility of something better."
The Latest
- Geithner to Europe: Take Strong Action on Debt Crisis The Wall Street Journal
- Bridging the News Industry's Digital Divide Bloomberg Businessweek
- Climate Change to Affect Corn Prices, Study Says The New York Times
- Get Rich U. The New Yorker
Chart of the Day
Romney has made vows on the campaign trail to cut spending by $500 billion in 2016-without touching Social Security or Medicaid. The campaign promise is turning out to be a tall order for his economic team. It might entail a President Romney having to cut 25 percent from the rest of the budget-the biggest cut in federal spending since the 1940s.
Reason to Get Out of Bed in the Morning
Mitt Romney's Wikipedia page has been edited quite a few times since he started his 2012 presidential campaign. Here's an infographic of the top changes. Also, turns out the top editors are also fans of editing the Tony Bennett and Twilight cast list pages.
