The French labour minister, Michael Sapin, described the nation as "totally bankrupt" in a recent interview, leaving the French President Francois Hollande to minimise reputational damage.
"There is a state but it is a totally bankrupt state," Sapin said in a radio interview. "That is why we had to put a deficit reduction plan in place, and nothing should make us turn away from that objective." Banque de France data showed a flight of capital has already left the country amid concerns President Hollande (pictured) plans to tax top earners at a 75% rate. Earlier this month, actor Gérard Depardieu renounced his French citizenship and decamped to Russia in protest and France's richest man, Bernard Arnault, is shifting his fortune to Belgium.
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