GOING...GOING.... – AT 1:20 P.M. ET:  France is still on the edge, with new, although smaller, riots this weekend.  And through it all stands, or stoops, President Macron, whose approval has now sunk to HALF of that enjoyed by President Trump.  From Bloomberg:   

Emmanuel Macron’s popularity continued to slide in December despite concessions announced by the French president in response to weeks of protests by the so-called Yellow Vest movement.

Macron’s approval rating dropped two points from a month earlier, to 23 percent, according to a poll by Ifop for the Journal du Dimanche weekly. Macron’s popularity has fallen by 27 points during the course of 2018, the newspaper reported.

On Saturday, the same day that the polling ended, demonstrations held across France by the Yellow Vest movement drew around half the number of last week’s protesters, suggesting that his offers have dented the campaign’s momentum. Macron on Dec. 10 announced that he’ll raise the minimum wage, abolish taxes on overtime and get rid of a controversial tax on pensions.

"Dialogue must now bring together all those who want to change France," Interior Minister Christophe Castaner wrote late Saturday in a tweet, adding that the day "ended well."

The protests have battered the French economy at a time when Macron is in need of a boost to help deliver his agenda. Sales sacrificed to the protests have already exceed 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion), according to the FCD national retail federation. And the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index showed the country’s private sector contracting in December for the first time during Macron’s presidency.

COMMENT:  Western Europe has become so depressing, really a museum with some modern industry attached.  Asia is building and growing, and becoming increasingly high-tech.  There are economic stirrings in some of the countries of Africa.  Western Europe is almost certain to diminish in importance, except for junior-year-abroad programs.

December 16, 2018