Sesit on Sarkozy

French president Nicolas Sarkozy, according to Bloomberg's Michael Seit, "is a small man, about an inch shorter than Napoleon, with an ego as large as an empire. He also travels the world with a famous wife and a penchant for inserting himself into the center of international crises."

The article gives examples of Sarkozy's freelancing around Europe and the Middle East, apparently not willing to give up the spotlight of the EU presidency, and even poking his nose into matters financial beyond the scope of normal government oversight. Sesit ends with this:

If he wants to do something useful, Sarkozy should offer the 7,700-man Foreign Legion as peacekeepers in Gaza. Until he does, it’s wise to be wary about owning European assets.

I agree with that first sentence. As for the second, I think there may be some good values on the European Continent. Including, as Barron's recently pointed out, some excellent dividend plays. Then again, Sesit is based in Paris, I'm in the US, and I'm frequently wrong about many things.

Comments

[Patrick]

Wow, George Bush starts nationalizing the financial and manufacturing sectors and the managers of the Fed start circumventing the Constitutional requirement that only Congress can spend money.

Do we really need to look to Sarkozy who is blamed for what? Holding a summit to discuss the financial crisis? Trying to broker a peace agreement? I much prefer a leader who talks about better government finance and policy and ending war to one who is actually taking action to socialize our economy and invade non-aggressive nations.

[John]

@Patrick: Well, I'm no fan of most politicians, so you get no argument from me.