French elections - 2

Before the results of the first round come in (though it looks like the predictions were correct and Hollande leads by a small margin) let me make it clear whom I would have preferred. I suspect some people have guessed it already: Frédéric Bastiat, of course. As his election site points out: He could not do any worse than the living candidates and, without doubt, he would do better.

 Il ne pourra pas faire pire que les vivants, et il fera sans doute mieux

Happy Birthday, Bastiat

IPN (International Policy Network), a think-tank whose work I much admire (see, I can be nice about some people but they have to deserve it) calls attention to the fact that today is the 209th birthday of Frederic Bastiat, one of the most brilliant opponents of protectionism. In fact, let us go further and admit that the man was one of the greatest political economists. Oh, and by the way, he was French.