Thales/Safran: Reality check

Margaret Thatcher famously said you can’t buck the markets. Even Nicolas Sarkozy seems to be discovering this truth. The uber-active French president has always thought business and the economy are just other fields of action for his micro-managing presidency. He had grand schemes in mind when he came into power, industrial policy dreams, projects for a few national champions. French chief executives were even advised subtly that they shouldn’t think of acting big without checking first with the...