Paul Lagneau-Ymonet

The phantom of Palais Brongniart : economic patriotism and the Paris Stock Exchange

France is famous for promoting national champions, notably by preventing foreign takeovers, but in 2005–2006, the French government allowed the New York Stock Exchange to take control of Euronext, a French-led pan-European company that includes the Paris Bourse. By mapping the public discourse surrounding this striking case of non-intervention, we explain why opponents of the transatlantic merger failed in their appeals to ‘economic patriotism’. Discursive strategies designed to justify discrimination against territorially defined outsiders ran into several hurdles, including weak patriotic sentiments for the company concerned; a lack of patriotic alternatives to the proposed merger; and the questionable patriotic credentials of those demanding intervention. Our findings advance research on demand side of ‘economic patriotism’, including its discursive dimension. Beyond that, they inform research on business–government relations, and on the political implications of corporate ownership structures.

Market Information as a Public Good: The Political Economy of the Revision of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID)

The crisis triggered by the US mortgage market meltdown in summer 2007 initially forced governments with a deep-seated belief in deregulated markets to do what they had repeatedly said they never could or would do again: namely to take stakes in financial institutions, suspend certain transactions deemed to be speculative and manipulate their currencies. Once the emergency was over, they said, they would take measures to put credit institutions and the financial system – currencies, banks and markets – back on a sound footing.