French Interior Minister and presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy criticized hedge funds as an example of undesirable speculation, saying he didn't approve of companies...."that buy up a company, sell it off in pieces, sack 25% of the staff in the meantime, collect 25% profit and create zero wealth."
Sarkozy said, "I don't want a speculative capitalism. I want a capitalism that creates riches." He added that a second topic for European debate would be "moralizing" the region's model of financial capitalism. Speaking during a television debate he argued that a weaker Euro should be a tool to help European industry: "We've built the second currency in the world and we're the only region in the world that obstinately refuses to put our currency to the service of jobs and growth. It can't last," he said.
Sarkozy is widely viewed by admirers as France's best hope for economic reform, but he has sought to temper a reputation for unpopular liberalism by emphasizing the role of the state and leaping to the defense of French industrial champions. In common with other French politicians, he has also called repeatedly for a change in the European Central Bank's mandate, to include growth and jobs among its criteria when setting interest rates.
On Sunday, he accepted that those demands, requiring unanimous agreement, were unrealistic. But said that if elected, he would ask his finance minister to call a Eurogroup meeting with Eurozone colleagues to discuss exchange rate strategy and "convince our partners to move forward."
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