ABSTRACT
In early October 2013, in France we witnessed an event of both an economic and social nature which has become a subject of analysis reaching far beyond the country and into the eurozone as a whole. The French President, François Hollande, came to Florange in Lorraine – a town famous for one of the largest steelworks in the world, a place where rich deposits of iron ore and coal create – it would seem – perfect conditions for the development of heavy industry. Two years before, when the company owner, well-known metallurgy mogul Lakshmi Mittal announced the shutdown of two blast furnaces of the steelworks, almost all political France was shocked. That was when the President of France declared that the response of his government would be to nationalise the works. Moreover President Hollande as well as many of his ministers began to overtly criticise many aspects of globalisation and complain about the inefficiency of governments in the eurozone as they face these kinds of challenges.
