The Social Welfare State is dying. Like the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain, the cradle-to-grave social welfare experiment must eventually collapse. A system of taxing work and profits, while subsidizing leisure, sloth, and retirement, must eventually fail. The end of the Social Welfare State is painful for many, and it will not end quickly or quietly as the elections of this past weekend prove. Francois Hollande, a Socialist, was elected president of France, while Greece saw a surge in votes...

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PARIS—I’m reaching the end of fast two weeks here, with its climax on election night when, as you must now by know, Francois Hollande became the first socialist president of France in 17 years, beating Sarko by less than 4 points—a margin that narrowed in the past 3 days—but a clear victory. The impact on Europe and the markets are yet to be seen, but certain to shake things up globally.When not thinking about French politics, there is always American politics—a concern of US expats and...

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In the vernacular of the criminal legal defense community, and among bail bondsmen, to “rabbit” is to do the crime, but then, after arrest and posting bond, flee the jurisdiction, and not do the jail time.  In the political context, to “rabbit” has the same implication: The incumbent makes a fiscal and/or ethical mess; the incumbent then bails by retiring or running for another office; and the successor has to clean up the debris. You read it here first: “Rahm the Rabbit,” meaning...

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Here we go again. For the third year in a row, some economic data have begun to raise red flags.Initial claims for jobless benefits have drifted back above 380,000, after bottoming at 361,000 in February. Private payroll growth slowed to 121,000 in March. Industrial production was unchanged the past two months. The Empire State, Philly Fed and Chicago manufacturing indices all dipped in April. And on Friday, we all heard real GDP grew at a modest 2.2% annual rate in Q1. As a result, the economic...

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PARIS—It’s a chilly, gloomy and rainy spring here but the outlook for President Nicolas Sarkozy remains chillier and gloomier. After finishing a close second to Socialist Francois Hollande in last week’s first round he hoped to win all the crypto-fascist vote that went to Marine Le Pen, but he’ll be lucky to get half her 18+ percent. Meanwhile Hollande has no trouble consolidating all the left and a share of the middle. He will even get a decent portion of the Le Pen voters who hate Sarkozy...

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For more than century, golfers have been taking divots, driving errant shots out of bounds and splashing poorly struck drives into the waters of the sanitary canal. In recent times, golfers have also had to contend with bicyclists, dog walkers and joggers who seem oblivious to the fact that they are strolling on a golf course and, sometimes, interrupting play. It must have been quite a shock to members of the original Evanston Golf Club to learn that the Sanitary District planned to build a canal...

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