France in mourning for its millionaires!
Capgemini’s World Wealth Report 2025 announces it: France is in mourning for its millionaires! Our country had 21,000 fewer millionaires in 2024, while the United States gained 562,000 more over the same period.
What is happening on this land called France, whose stock market was the only one in the world to plummet last year (-2.5% for the CAC 40), while even a struggling Germany managed a DAX up 18%? We, unfortunately, do not have the “Magnificent 7” (Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Tesla) like the United States, but we can still take pride in our own jewels: Kering, L’Oréal, LVMH… whose market caps fell by 40%, 24%, and 13% respectively in 2024.
The 6% increase in our Stoxx Europe 600 index in 2024 pales in comparison to the U.S. indices (Nasdaq and S&P 500), both of which soared by more than 30%.
Our continent is paralyzed, gripped by its aversion to risk, hemmed in by fragmented regulations. Europe is now subdued, sidelined.
Fortunes are migrating to the United States — and are being created there — because Europe is no longer a land of innovation. No wonder: only €60 billion are devoted to venture capital in Europe, compared to $200 billion in the U.S.! That’s 3.5% of U.S. GDP spent on R&D (i.e. $990 billion), versus just $440 billion (2.3% of GDP) here.
The U.S. leads the way, boasting labor productivity 1.55 times higher than ours (productivity per hour worked: $85 vs $55 in Europe), automatically resulting in faster wealth creation.
Even our respective central banks reflect the sheer panic we have at the idea of intervening in the economy or supporting businesses and consumers. One figure says it all: $8.5 trillion has been injected by the U.S. Federal Reserve between 2007 and today, compared to €4.7 trillion from our ECB in Frankfurt.
Of course, the coup de grâce for us was Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — a $783 billion investment plan over 10 years in clean energy, healthcare, and agriculture, with a significant share spent in 2024. Its impact? A 1% increase in GDP for 2024 and an additional 1.5 million jobs (often well paid) by 2030.
So yes, in Europe we can certainly congratulate ourselves on our fiscal heterogeneity (27 different regimes), which encourages our great fortunes to relocate their capital. And in France, we can proudly boast the most prohibitive top tax rate in the EU — 45% on high incomes. A French SME must dedicate on average 140 hours per year to tax compliance, versus 80 hours in the United States, according to the World Bank. This country, the champion of fiscal overkill, is on the brink of a stroke.
Average unemployment: 5.9% here, 4.1% there. Average growth: 0.9% here, 2.6% there. GDP per capita: €40,000 here, $80,000 there… Even Mississippi — the poorest U.S. state — now exceeds most major European economies in GDP (except Germany).
Quo vadis, Europe?
Dear readers,
This blog is yours: I maintain it diligently, with both consistency and passion. Thousands of articles and analyses are available to you here, some dating all the way back to 1993!
What were once considered heterodox views on macroeconomics have, over time, become widely accepted and recognized. Regardless, my positions have always been sincere.
As you can imagine — whether you’re discovering this site for the first time or have been reading me for years — the energy and time I dedicate to my research are substantial. This work will remain volunteer-based, and freely accessible to all.
I’ve made this payment platform available, and I encourage you to support my efforts through one-time or recurring donations.
A heartfelt thank you to all those who choose to support my work.